Penne al Baffo

Penne in a tomato and cream sauce with shallots, garlic, and pancetta topped with parsley. An extra decadent, comforting pasta dish everyone will love!

5 from 61 votes

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Course: Main Course

Cuisine: Italian

Prep Time: 5

Cook Time: 30

Total Time: 35

Servings: small (2 large)

Calories: 520kcal

Equipment

Ingredients

8 ounces penne
1 shallot finely diced
2 cloves garlic chopped
3 ounces thin-sliced pancetta sliced in half lengthwise, then thin sliced into bite-sized pieces
¼ cup + 1 tablespoon tomato paste
⅔ cup heavy cream
2 tablespoons olive oil
2-4 tablespoons parsley
1 pinch kosher salt large, for salting the pasta water

Instructions

Place a large pot of water on the stove to boil. Salt the water.
Place a frying pan on medium-low to medium heat. Add the olive oil, shallot and garlic. Cook until softened and shallots are translucent, stirring often, about 5 minutes. If garlic starts to color, turn down the heat.
Add pancetta and cook until some of the fat renders, 3-4 minutes.
Add tomato paste and cook for 3-4 minutes.
When the water is boiling, add the pasta and cook until just al dente (usually 1 minute less than the lower time suggested in the box directions). Reserve some pasta water.
Add the cream. Once the cream comes to a simmer, turn heat to medium-low or low and cook for 5-10 minutes while the pasta cooks, stirring often to ensure the sauce does not get too thick. You want the sauce to coat the back of a spoon.
Add the al dente pasta to the sauce and toss to combine. If the sauce has gotten a bit too thick, add a scoop of the pasta water and stir until you reach the desired consistency.
Taste for seasoning. If needed, add a bit of salt.
Ladle the pasta into bowls, top with parsley and serve immediately.

Notes

This recipe makes 4 small portions or 2 large portions. Calories listed are for 4 portions.
If you cannot find pancetta, feel free to use prosciutto, ham, or even bacon.
To make this dish vegetarian, just omit the pancetta.
Instead of shallot, you can use sweet or yellow onion. Use half of a large onion or a whole small onion.
High-quality double concentrated tomato paste is excellent here, but regular, generic brand tomato paste is also good.
I recommend serving this dish right after it is prepared, but if needed you can refrigerate the pasta and sauce separately and combine once reheated. I do not recommend freezing this dish.

Nutrition