MALFADINE ALLA ROMANA (Pasta with Bacon and Cheese sauce)

"Malfadine is a hearty ribbon-like pasta that I came across one day in an Italian gourmet shop. I had no idea what to do with the stuff so of course consulted the internet and came across this recipe. In typical fashion, I've tweaked it a bit. If you can't find malfadine, tagliatelle would be an acceptable substitute. My husband and I can eat this entire recipe, but I would imagine the yield would stretch to three people, especially if you serve a salad or vegetable on the side. I always think as I eat this : How could a pasta dish with no garlic taste so good ?"
 
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Ready In:
40mins
Ingredients:
9
Serves:
2
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ingredients

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directions

  • If using bacon, cut into cubes.
  • In a frying pan, saute the onion till softened but not browned.
  • Add the lardons or bacon cubes, and brown them.
  • Add the canned tomatoes and the chopped sun-dried tomatoes.
  • Season with salt and pepper and simmer for 15 minutes, stirring occasionally.
  • Meanwhile, cook the malfadine al dente.
  • Strain (reserving 2 TBS of the water), then pour into the pan with the prepared sauce, adding the reserved 2 TBS pasta water and then leaving the pasta to flavor 1 minute.
  • Add the butter and the parmesan or romano cheese, take the pan off the heat and mix everything well.
  • Transfer to a serving dish and serve immediately.

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Reviews

  1. I did not have lardons but had smoked sun dried tomatoes, I also used penne pasta. This was a pretty tasty dish, but the smoky ingredients overpowered the cheese. We added more to the top with fresh ground black pepper.
     
  2. This was an extremely flavourful pasta dish and much appreciated. I am lucky enough to find lardons here, so I could follow the recipe exactly. The lardons provided a smoky backdrop to the intense tomato sauce and the sun-dried tomatoes added a salty/sweet note that I thought was just right but DH thought was a bit too much of a good thing, so next time I'll add a couple (or three) less - maybe my sun-dried tomatoes were just extra-large, plump ones (they were). The butter and cheese added at the end really 'rounded' out the flavour.
     
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RECIPE SUBMITTED BY

I am an American married to a Belgian, and have lived in Belgium since December 1999. Cooking is my major hobby. I'm also an avid reader, but I have difficulty finding the time. I love to travel. Since moving to Europe I've been lucky enough to have had the opportunity to go a couple of times per year to Paris, as well as having visited London, Rome, Florence, Naples, Amsterdam, and of course Brussels and Antwerp. I've seen at least parts of most regions of France, as well as parts of Germany, Austria, a great deal of Switzerland, Slovenia, Croatia, Luxembourg, and Monaco. I'm absolutely in love with the Bay of Naples and Sorrento coast areas of Italy, which my husband and I recently re-visited on a trip that included Rome, Puglia, Umbria and Marche. I'm still looking forward to Ireland, Spain, Portugal, the Czech Republic . . . the list is too long ! One of the bonuses of travel is getting to taste the local cuisine, and afterward trying to figure out how to duplicate it at home. I think cooking is one of the nicest things a person can do for someone they love (including themself!) I had to submit a picture with me and my cat, Sophie, as she insists on sitting in my lap when I'm sitting at the computer. If you are wondering what all that stuff hanging on the wall behind us in the photo is, it is just a small part of my husband's military medal collection. He was appalled by my posting this picture-- Our study is the messiest room in our house (thank god!)
 
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