Pasta alla Mamma Rosa

My son attends an Italian preschool here, and they have delicious-looking lunches every day.  They post the menu daily and my son loves looking at it to see what he'll be eating that day. (So do I!)  One day, they had a picture of pasta and the label said "Pasta alla Mamma Rosa".  It looked good and I was curious, so I went home and looked up a recipe online to see what it was.  It's kind of like pasta with vodka sauce, except the sauce here doesn't have any vodka and uses ham or pancetta.  You add cream to it to make the sauce pink.  I finally made this recipe last week.  (Note: this recipe is in grams since my ingredients were all in grams.)

Note: I still make this in 2016 but I now prefer a large tube pasta shape, as shown in the photo above. The shape in the pic is called Mezzi Rigatoni but any tube will do. I find it easier to eat this way, and it's a good fit with the tomato sauce. 

Pasta alla Mamma Rosa

adapted from La Erika in Cucina

olive oil

500 grams pasta (I used linguine piccolo OR a large rigatoni or other tube shape)

1 medium onion, chopped (yellow/white)

200 grams cubed pancetta affumicata (smoked), OR cubed ham or bacon

700 grams passata di pomodoro (smooth tomato sauce)

100-150 ml cream

fresh basil, chopped

fresh black pepper

1.  Cook pasta according to package directions.

2.  Meanwhile, saute the onion in the olive oil in a large skillet over medium heat.  When it has softened, add the ham or pancetta and cook and stir for a few minutes.  Pour in the passata (tomato sauce) and let cook and reduce for a little bit.  Then, stir in as much cream as you want.  Finally, add the fresh basil and black pepper and serve over cooked pasta.  

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