Photo: Christmas Pasta Recipe
We eat fish on Christmas Eve — no meat allowed. After Midnight Mass, all bets are off! We make this sauce for Christmas Day; you can't fit another meat in the pot! As many times as you reheat it, it just gets that much better, so if people are coming and going throughout the day, cook off only as much pasta as you need at the time — half a pound for every three people.
Ingredients
- 2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
- 4 cloves garlic, crushed
- 1 bay leaf, fresh or dried
- 1/4 pound pancetta, thick cut, chopped into small bits (Italian cured pork, ask at deli counter)
- 1/2 pound bulk hot Italian sausage
- 1 pound combined ground beef, pork and veal
- 1 medium carrot, peeled and finely chopped
- 1 rib celery, chopped
- 1 medium onion, chopped
- 1 cup good quality dry red wine
- 1 cup prepared beef stock, paper container or canned
- 2 (32-ounce) cans chunky style crushed tomatoes
- A handful chopped flat leaf parsley leaves
- 1/4 teaspoon (a couple of pinches) allspice or cinnamon
- Coarse salt and black pepper
- 2 pounds penne rigate, cooked to al dente
- Grated Pecorino Romano, as an accompaniment
- Fresh, crusty bread, for mopping
Directions
Heat a deep pot over medium high heat. Add oil, garlic, bay, and pancetta bits and brown for 1 minute. Add meats and brown and crumble them for 5 minutes.
Chop carrot, celery, and onions near the stove and add to the pot as you work. Cook vegetables with meat 5 minutes and add wine. Cook for 1 minute; add stock and tomatoes to the pot.
Stir in parsley, allspice, or cinnamon and season sauce with salt and pepper, to taste. Bring sauce to a boil, reduce heat to medium low, and cook 10 to 15 minutes minimum before serving. Reheated sauce only improves.
Toss pasta (cook off only as much pasta as you need at the time: half a pound for every 3 people) with a couple of ladles of sauce to coat, then top bowl with extra sauce. Top pasta with lots of cheese and pass bread at the table.
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By designgenenotin...
MA
on January 08, 2012
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Super yummy. Have loved this receipe since she first put it in the mag. Love it!
By Carol from Vanc...
on March 28, 2011
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I had to make this recipe 4 times tweaking it each time. The recipe it’s self is fantastic, however the method is not. Underdone carrot and celery, delete the allspice or cinnamon. I’m old school, here is what I did. I started in a large frying pan, not my large pot. I browned my pancetta in the oil, removed to the waiting large pot. Then added my onion, carrot, celery and garlic cooked until translucent. To the vegetables I added the meat mixture in two batches to brown. Add the meat mixture to the pot with the pancetta, and then add stock, wine, tomatoes and bay leaf. Add a little salt and fresh cracked pepper to start. Bring to a boil then turn down to mark number 2 or 3 and this will be a nice simmer for at least two hours. This method will give you a wonder full tender meat and full flavour. Remove from heat, adjust salt and pepper to taste, remove bay leaf. If you have time to make this a day ahead, it is worth it!!! The flavours just sing the next day! CHEERS!!
By bobbysmith
Joliet, Illinoi...
on January 09, 2011
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What can I say Yumm-O. I have made this a few times. Mostly in the summer. So when I say I am making Christmas pasta for July 4th lunch I get strange looks. But, there is never any leftovers when I make this.
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