Make the best damn pasta you've ever had.

Pasta is simple. Pasta is cheap.  Pasta is comforting.
Pasta can be made with items you already have in your pantry.
Pasta can be made better at home than the corner Italian (and I use that loosely) dive that you occasionally order mediocre pizza, a soggy chopped salad, and burnt chicken parm from.
Even making your own sauce is easy and NO you don't have to simmer it all day like my old neighbor's Uncle Angelo did. (Even though his house always smelled amazing) Best part; sauce can be frozen and thawed quickly for a quick meal at a later date.
Specifics.....

Scott Conant is one of the current celebrity chef masters of Italian cooking.  His restaurant, Scarpetta, is known for their simple tomato basil spaghetti.  I watched Scott on some cooking show demonstrate his technique and picked up a few pointers. I mean, the spaghetti is that good and it's easy to do at home.  I have my adapted version but if you want it straight from the source, go here : Scott Conant's how to .
You can use dried pasta but the difference with fresh pasta is like night and day.  The texture of fresh simply cannot be duplicated with the dried stuff.....but it will do in a pinch. Otherwise, Whole Foods has a great fresh pasta selection of spaghetti, tagliatelle, fettucini and sheets for lasagna.

I bought : fresh fettucini, a can of San Marzano tomatos (people import these from Italy for a reason-they are the best), pancetta (you can use bacon) a shallot, garlic, red chili flakes, basil, good olive oil.

Bring salted water to a boil. Salted. Not just a pinch, people. You want the water to taste "of the sea" so to speak. You want it to penetrate the starch and flavor it.


In a pan ( pasta is mainly cooked in a pan, not a pot.) Add olive oil, a few smashed garlic gloves and a handful of fresh basil.  You want to infuse the oil with flavor.  Make sure the oil doesn't get to hot otherwise the garlic will burn and that tastes gross. After about 15 minutes, remove the garlic cloves and basil. Add chopped pancetta.

Cook until brown.  Add a finely diced shallot. Cook for a few minutes.  Add the tomatoes (roughly pureed) .  Stir to blend sauce and oil together.  Add salt.  Maybe add a pinch or two of brown sugar if the tomatoes need a bit of sweetness.  Add a couple pinches of red chili flakes for a little heat.


Cook the fresh pasta for a few minutes. (fresh doesn't take long) You want it to be under al dente because it will continue cooking when we add it to the sauce.  DO NOT use a colander.  Use tongs to take the pasta out of the water and add to the sauce.  It doesn't matter if it's wet.  We actually WANT to use the pasta water.  The cloudy, starchiness of it will thicken the sauce.  Take about 1/2 a cup pasta water and add it to the sauce.  Coat the pasta in the sauce with the tongs.

Cook for about 2 more minutes. If sauce is too thick, add more water.  If too watery, continue to cook.  Take a pat of butter and melt into the pasta.  Grate some fresh parm (don't ever buy the stuff in the green canister, I beg of you)  over the pasta.  Twirl into a bowl.  Make it pretty.  Add chopped fresh basil over top and homemade bread crumbs for texture (not necessary but so good)

Your guests will be super impressed.  Sooooooooo good. This recipe always makes me feel like I can really cook because it elevates such a simple dish.  People screw up pasta in the stupidest ways and this is basically foolproof.  And like I said, you probably have most of these items already in your house. Mangia!