2025-08-07T21:23:36Z
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I made Ina Garten’s favourite weeknight pasta for dinner.
The dish options basic Italian elements like bucatini, pancetta, and pink wine.
I made the pasta after an extended workday, and it solely took me half-hour.
I made my very first Barefoot Contessa pasta whereas residing like Ina Garten for a day throughout New York Metropolis’s lockdown in Could 2020. Her approachable and scrumptious recipes had been a dream for a novice cook dinner like me, and I used to be instantly hooked.Since then, I’ve made lots of her dishes, from comforting breakfasts to spectacular desserts. However it’s all the time her pastas that I’ve beloved most — I’ve even ranked them!When I discovered the recipe for one in every of her favourite weeknight pastas, I knew I needed to attempt it.
Ina Garten says her go-to weeknight pasta is fast and straightforward.
Ina Garten’s weeknight pasta recipe is in her cookbook “Go-To Dinners.”
NBC NewsWire / Contributor
“Everybody wants a number of fast pasta dinners of their repertoire, and this one is absolutely adaptable,” Garten wrote in “Go-To Dinners,” her most up-to-date cookbook.”It is great as is, however you may additionally serve it with veal meatballs one evening and with a giant dollop of ricotta the following,” she added. “The pancetta and pink wine give it implausible taste.”After a busy day of labor, I closed my laptop computer and headed to the kitchen. It was time to get cooking!
You most likely have already got many of the elements for the pasta in your kitchen.
Substances for Ina Garten’s weeknight pasta.
Anneta Konstantinides/Enterprise Insider
To make 4 servings of Garten’s weeknight pasta at residence, you may want:1 pound of dried spaghettoni or bucatini1 ½ cups of chopped yellow onion1 cup of freshly grated Italian pecorino cheese½ cup of dry pink wine, corresponding to Chianti1 can (14.5 ounces) of crushed San Marzano tomatoes6 ounces of (¼-inch) diced pancetta2 cloves of minced garlic1 ½ teaspoons of sugar½ teaspoon of crushed pink pepper flakes¼ cup of julienned recent basil leaves, plus additional for servingGarten notes that common spaghetti, which is thinner than spaghettoni, can be used with this recipe.
Earlier than I began cooking, I prepped my herbs and veggies.
My chopped basil.
Anneta Konstantinides/Enterprise Insider
I chopped the onion, minced my garlic cloves, and julienned the basil.As soon as my prep was achieved, I stuffed a big pot with water, added two tablespoons of salt, and introduced it to a boil so it could be able to cook dinner the pasta later.
Then, I started making the sauce.
I added three tablespoons of olive oil to my Dutch oven, permitting it to warmth up.
Anneta Konstantinides/Enterprise Insider
I added three tablespoons of olive oil to my Dutch oven, which I positioned over medium-low warmth.
I threw within the diced pancetta, utilizing a little bit greater than Garten had beneficial.
Garten says to cook dinner the pancetta for 5 to seven minutes.
Anneta Konstantinides/Enterprise Insider
I had purchased two 4-ounce packets of diced pancetta, so I made a decision so as to add a little bit extra to the pasta. I ended up loving the additional taste, so I might suggest attempting this.Garten recommends sautéing the pancetta for 5 to seven minutes, till the items have browned. As soon as my pancetta was prepared, I used a slotted spoon to switch it to a small bowl.
After I eliminated the pancetta, I added the chopped onion.
I sautéed the onion for 10 minutes.
Anneta Konstantinides/Enterprise Insider
I sautéed the onion for 10 minutes, till the items began to brown.
I added the pancetta again into the Dutch oven, together with the minced garlic and pink pepper flakes.
Including the pancetta, garlic, and pink pepper flakes.
Anneta Konstantinides/Enterprise Insider
I cooked every little thing collectively for one minute.
Then, I added the wine.
Including the wine to the Dutch oven.
Anneta Konstantinides/Enterprise Insider
Garten recommends cooking every little thing for 3 to 5 minutes, till the liquid has virtually solely evaporated.
As soon as the wine had practically evaporated, I added the tomatoes and sugar.
I allowed the Dutch oven to simmer uncovered for 10 minutes.
Anneta Konstantinides/Enterprise Insider
I introduced the sauce to a boil, then lowered the warmth. I allowed every little thing within the Dutch oven to simmer uncovered for 10 minutes, stirring sometimes.
Whereas my sauce was simmering, I added the pasta to my boiling pot of water.
I cooked my bucatini pasta whereas the sauce simmered.
Anneta Konstantinides/Enterprise Insider
Garten recommends cooking the pasta for 2 minutes lower than al dente based on the instructions on the package deal.This meant I wanted to cook dinner my bucatini for 9 minutes, nevertheless it positively wasn’t sufficient. The noodles had been nonetheless actually robust. I knew they would not end cooking within the sauce, so I cooked my pasta a couple of minutes longer.Each range is completely different, so belief your style buds (or cook dinner the noodles a little bit longer within the sauce on the finish).
As soon as the sauce was prepared, I seasoned it with salt and pepper earlier than throwing within the pasta.
Including the pasta to the sauce.
Anneta Konstantinides/Insider
Garten recommends including one teaspoon of salt and ½ teaspoon of freshly floor black pepper as soon as it is completed simmering.After transferring the pasta to the sauce, I additionally added a splash of pasta water.
I cooked every little thing over low warmth for 2 minutes, stirring my noodles with the tongs.
Stirring the pasta over low warmth.
Anneta Konstantinides/Enterprise Insider
I added extra pasta water to realize the “free sauce” consistency that Garten beneficial.
I took my Dutch oven off the warmth and added the pecorino and basil.
Including the cheese and basil to the pasta.
Anneta Konstantinides/Enterprise Insider
I added half a cup of the pecorino and all of the basil and tossed every little thing along with my tongs.
Garten’s weeknight pasta had a country attraction that jogged my memory of one in every of my favourite Italian eating places in New York Metropolis.
Ina Garten’s weeknight pasta.
Anneta Konstantinides/Enterprise Insider
Certainly one of my go-to spots once I lived in NYC was Cotenna, an Italian restaurant within the West Village. It was tiny, intimate, and reasonably priced, and my girlfriends and I completely beloved it.The service was all the time nice, the wine was all the time low-cost, and the pasta was all the time scrumptious. The whole lot in regards to the place simply felt heat. And one thing about Garten’s weeknight pasta — which focuses on basic, approachable Italian elements — introduced me proper again there.
I served the pasta with some extra cheese and basil on prime earlier than digging in. I used to be immediately an enormous fan.
Garten’s weeknight pasta is a good dinner after a busy workday.
Anneta Konstantinides/Enterprise Insider
Garten’s weeknight pasta does not simply appear like it comes from a cute little Italian restaurant — it tastes prefer it does, too.The wealthy pancetta labored so properly with the earthy flavors of the basil and Chianti, and the San Marzano tomatoes added a beautiful, refined sweetness. The kick of the pink pepper flakes rounded out the sauce, which had a shocking depth of taste regardless of wanting fairly easy. This dish was additionally completed in about half-hour with very minimal prep or effort. Who does not love that?General, Garten’s favourite weeknight pasta tasted scrumptious and elevated. I do know I will positively whip it up once more, even after an extended workday.
