An easy recipe for when you want homemade food without a lot of effort.

Some of my friends cannot cook for themselves, and it’s honestly a miracle they’ve survived this long on their own. Meanwhile, I am very tired of dining hall food and do know how to cook, so me using the kitchen to make food works out for everyone. The most recent thing I made: Amatriciana.

Ingredients:

Pancetta (if you’re lazy like me, pre-cubed). Really thick bacon will work in a pinch

Cooking wine (can use water as a substitute)

Garlic

Yellow onion

Chili flakes

Diced tomatoes

Parmesan or pecorino romano (optional)

Instructions:

1. Start by making the sauce. First, you need to finely chop the onion and garlic.
2. Sauté the onion with the pancetta and chili, stirring regularly until the pancetta is browning and the onion is fully translucent (and some of it is probably browning.)
3. Start heating up the pasta water.
4. Add the garlic and stir until it’s fragrant (do NOT burn the garlic.)
5. Add the cooking wine (or water). To my knowledge, there’s no actual measurement for this, just kind of eyeball it and add a little bit. Let it bubble down a little bit, and then add the tomatoes.
6. Bring the sauce to a boil, then let it simmer for twenty minutes or more.
7. While you wait for the sauce to finish, cook and drain the pasta! Also, this is a good time to grate cheese if that’s something you want.
8. Put the sauce on the pasta and you’re done! 

Pasta Via Grace Fitzgerald-Diaz