Tomato-Basil-Pancetta Pasta

Submitted by foodieforlife2

"In less than 30 minutes I cooked up this nice dish from scratch. I liked the idea of a simple, but filling dish without the heaviness of cream and butter ["pastas you don't want to eat in a while"]. *Don't fry garlic for too long because it easily turns black and bitter. *Preparation time includes the cooking time of the pasta *You may have noticed that I don't use salt for the sauce. The pancetta itself gives of enough of a 'salty' flavor', so I didn't think it was necessary. *The nutritional values calculated for this recipe are bogus. I don't know exactly what happened, but common sense with put this recipe to < 500 calories."

 

• Ready In: 30mins
• Ingredients: 9
• Yields: 1 portion

ingredients

• 5 cherry tomatoes
• 3 large white mushrooms
• 75 ml ruby port
• 60 g pasta
• 8 basil leaves
• 1 tablespoon olive oil
• 1 tablespoon chopped pancetta
• 1 garlic clove
• 1 teaspoon black pepper

directions

1. Cook the pasta with some salt 'al dente' according to its package instructions and drain, wash with cold water.
2. Prepare the vegetables: half the cherry tomatoes, slice the mushrooms, and shredd the basil (you can be a bit more liberal with the amount if you want). Last, chop the garlic-clove.
3. Heat the olive oil in a frying pan, and add the pancetta. Stir on medium heat for about a minute until the pancetta gets crisp. Turn the heat down and add the garlic. Toss it for another minute, until slightly 'fried'*.
4. Add the tomatoes and cook for 3 minutes, frequently turning them around. Now, add half of the port and cook further for 2 minutes until almost all the [port] liquid has evaporated.
5. Turn the heat back to medium-heat and add the mushrooms and black pepper. Stir around the vegetables for 1 minute, and add the remaining port. Let the liquid evaporate slightly, after which you add the shredded basil.
6. Cook for 2 more minutes until the basil has shrunk. At this stage, the vegetables should still be 'pooling' in a bit of liquid, which you do need to add flavor the pasta.
7. Add the pasta and turn down the heat. Stir around for 2-3 minutes, to absorb [most of ] the sauce.
8. Done! Serve in nice pasta bowls with some Parmesan/Pecorino cheese [if desired].