Conchiglie with Bacon and Rosemary in Tomato Sauce

Sauce

1. Prep the ingredients: cut the dry-cured smoked bacon into very thin slices, peel the shallot and chop it very finely, crush the garlic cloves with the flat of a knife.

   

2. Flavor the oil. Smoked bacon doesn’t release much fat when fried, so pour one or two tablespoons of olive oil into the skillet and fry the rosemary sprigs and garlic in it over medium heat. Stir and fry for a few minutes, until the garlic starts to darken slightly. Then throw the garlic and rosemary away.

   

3. Fry the bacon with the shallot. Fry the bacon in the flavored oil for 2-3 mins, until the pieces start to brown. Add a little salt and black pepper and, if you like, some dried chili flakes. They won’t make the sauce hot, but they improve the aroma. Then add the shallot to the skillet and fry it with the bacon until soft.

   

4. Add the tomatoes and simmer the sauce. If it’s summer and you have plenty of ripe tomatoes, scald them with boiling water, peel them, remove the seeds and puree the pulp with a blender or chop it with a knife. Canned tomato pulp works great too. Blend it or just crush it with your hands to make a puree. Add the tomatoes to the skillet, bring the sauce to a boil, reduce to low heat and simmer, covered, for 6-7 mins.

   

   If the sauce is too thin, raise the heat for a short time and take off the lid so the extra liquid evaporates.

Pasta

5. Cook the conchiglie al dente. While the sauce simmers, bring 2 l of water to a boil in a pot over high heat and salt it with 14 g of salt (7 g per 1 l of water). It’s best to put the water on early, while the bacon is frying. This pasta usually takes 12-13 mins, which gives you al dente. Drain the cooked pasta in a colander.

6. Combine the pasta with the sauce and heat through. Put the pasta into the skillet with the finished sauce and stir.

   

   Cover the skillet and simmer the dish over low heat for 2-3 mins. The pasta should soak up the sauce, and then it’s ready.

Serving

7. Divide the pasta among plates, garnish with a sprig of fresh rosemary and serve right away while hot. Don’t reheat it, because pasta with sauce tastes best freshly made.

   

   Pasta with this sauce is a very hearty, tasty dish. The notes of rosemary in the aroma and flavor are reminiscent of country cooking. Instead of bacon you can use fresh mushrooms. They replace it very well and make the dish vegetarian and lighter. To thicken the sauce, add finely chopped root vegetables: carrot, parsnip, parsley root.