Adobe Stock / Alessio Orrù
Pancetta, garlic, and a very special secret Hudson Valley ingredient make this noodle dish a true showstopper for lunch or dinner.
The situation is all too common.
As the dinner hour draws nearer and nearer, you head to the kitchen for a quick consult with your pantry. Pasta sounds good, but with what? You’ve had it with jar sauce, you’ve tossed it with pesto, and you’ve even thrown in a few veggies in an attempt to spice things up. Tonight, you want something new, something delicious, and something that doesn’t take more than an hour to prepare.
Enter this pasta all’amatriciana recipe. Made with crispy rendered pancetta and full of umami from the slightly caramelized tomato paste, the dish features a very special secret ingredient that takes it over the top.
What could it be? We’ll give you a hint. The recipe is straight from the culinary mind of Ryan Burk, the Head Cider Maker at Angry Orchard.
To craft his delectable dish, Burk deglazes his sauce with half a bottle of Angry Orchard’s Stone Dry Cider, then cooks it until everything melds together. From there, the only thing left to do is toss it with pasta, add a sprinkle of grated parmesan, and work on that perfect noodle twirl.
Cider All’Amatriciana
By Angry Orchard Head Cider Maker Ryan Burk
Ingredients:
1/4 cup or so EVOO
1/2 lb of pancetta or guanciale if not, a couple slices of thick cut bacon, cut in match sticks then cubed
2 shallots, thinly sliced
1 head of garlic (we like a lot of garlic, if you like less, use less), smashed and roughly chopped
1/2 small can tomato paste
750ml Angry Orchard Stone Dry
16 oz can whole peeled tomatoes, drained
1lb bucatini (the best pasta)
1/2 cup Parmesan or pecorino to taste
Salt to taste
Crushed red pepper
Parsley to taste
Method:
Cook pancetta (or bacon) on medium with a tablespoon or so of EVOO until crisp and fat is rendered, 15 mins or so, and remove with slotted spoon and reserve. Add shallot and cook a few mins until golden and soft, and then add garlic and continue cooking for a few minutes stirring often top prevent burning.
Push ingredients to one side and add tomato paste, stir and fry for a few minutes to bring in some umami, stir everything together and deglaze with dry cider (half the bottle or more), making sure to scrape up all the good stuff. Add tomatoes and cook until falling apart, 10 mins or so down, then remove and reserve sauce.
Turn heat to high, add enough water to cover pasta, add pasta and a generous amount of salt, cook pasta until its almost al dente, pour off water, reserving some to add back as needed, add reserved sauce + meat + remaining EVOO + cheese. Stir rapidly and add some pasta water if a creamier consistency is desired. Serve, add crushed red pepper to taste and a little chopped parsley.
