Ingredients
Equipment
Method
- Soften the onions. Peel and slice the onions as thinly as possible. Add them to a wide, low-sided pot with 1 tablespoon olive oil and a good pinch of salt. Cook over medium heat, stirring now and then, until the onions are soft but not browned.
- Prep the garlic and bacon. While the onions soften, peel and thinly slice the garlic cloves. Slice the bacon into ½-inch slivers.
- Render the bacon gently. When the onions are soft but not browned, about 10 minutes, add the garlic, 1 rosemary sprig, chili flakes if using, and the bacon. Stir to separate the bacon pieces. Keep the heat low enough that the onions and bacon soften without frying. Cook, stirring often, until the garlic is soft and the bacon is translucent and has rendered plenty of fat, about 10 minutes more. Remove and discard the rosemary sprig.
- Reduce the tomatoes to a sweet paste. Pour in the tomatoes, season with salt, and turn the heat to high. Cook for about 20 minutes, stirring more often as the sauce thickens. After the first 5 minutes, reduce the heat to medium if the sauce is bubbling too hard. Keep cooking until the tomatoes reduce to a tight, sweet, sticky paste and the bubbles become slower and thicker. Stir constantly near the end, almost like you are stir-frying the tomato sauce, so the sugars caramelize without burning.
- Deglaze and finish the sauce. When the sauce is thick enough that you can drag a spoon through the middle and it leaves a clear line, pour in the red wine. Bubble and stir over high heat, scraping up the caramelized bits from the pan, until the alcohol cooks off, about 5 minutes. Turn off the heat. Bruise the remaining rosemary sprig to release its oils, then stir it into the sauce with the remaining 3 tablespoons olive oil. Set aside.
- Cook the pasta and loosen the sauce. Bring a large pot of water to a boil and season it well with salt. Cook the pasta until it is 1 to 2 minutes shy of the package directions. While the pasta cooks, warm the sauce in a large pan with 1½ cups pasta water. Use the same pan you made the sauce in, if possible.
- Finish the pasta in the sauce. When the pasta is just shy of al dente, transfer it to the sauce with tongs, or drain it and reserve extra pasta water. Cook over high heat, stirring constantly, until the pasta is tender and the sauce juicily coats each piece. Add more pasta water as needed to keep the noodles glossy and twirlable.
- Serve with extra sauce and cheese. Spoon the extra sauce over the pasta, then finish with grated Pecorino Romano or Parmesan.
Notes
Pasta shape: I loved this with mafaldine because the ruffled edges catch the smoky tomato sauce beautifully. Bucatini is more traditional for this style of pasta, and a short, hefty shape like mezzi paccheri ondulati would also be wonderful with the glossy caramelized tomato sauce. A long curly shape like fusilli col buco would be fun here too.
Vegetarian option: Clare de Boer notes that vegetarians can leave out the bacon, increase the olive oil when softening the onions, and consider adding soaked dried porcini mushrooms in place of the bacon. I have not tested this version yet.