Oct 13, 2009
After reading reviews, I still wanted to try this one. I rate it 4 of 5 because I , too, altered it but not as much as a lot of people did. I could not find Pancetta and did not want to travel across town to get it, nor did I want to use bacon (bacon makes everything taste like bacon). I did use a MILD, sweeter, thin-sliced country ham and that worked perfectly for the recipe. Other than that, I followed the recipe exactly until the end. I didn't think the sauce would adequately cover 12 oz. of pasta so I added a tad more olive oil to the noodles and just before tossing the pasta and sauce, I added a can of Hunt's Diced Fire Roasted tomatoes, drained and straight from the can and mixed the parmesan with the pasta, too. I topped each portion with a little grated parmesan and crushed red pepper flakes. The pepper & tomatoes added more color and the oomph it was missing. I served it with a spinach salad and fried goat cheese and it was a great meal. I will make it again. I do have more advice--cook the noodles less than you would for al dente--do not overcook. This allows the sauce to mix well. Return the mix to the pasta pot (off the heat, of course) to let it rest before serving. Over cooking the pasta may be the reason many of the people are underwhelmed with the results.
—Lisa B!
