Student Food: Pasta Amatriciana

Dear Ann and Vibe,

Eating well as a student can be hard. With limited money and limited time, weekdays can easily turn into an endless monotony of frozen pizzas and mcdonalds. But nice food doesn't necessarily have to be expensive or difficult. I experiment a lot with nice pastas and stir fries. Not only can you get creative with them, but you can easily make enough for a couple of days, giving yourself a night off from cooking the next night. 

This week, I made a (slightly modified) pasta amatriciana. It's easy to make, easily modifiable to your desires, cheap and delicious. 

Recipe adapted from 'The Hungry Student Cookbook' by Charlotte Pike

INGREDIENTS:

• A couple tablespoons of olive oil
• 1 onion
• 3 cloves of garlic
• A large handful of cherry tomatoes
• Chopped tomatoes
• 5-6 rashers of nice, smoky bacon
• 200g Pasta of your choice (I chose a chunky rigatoni, but the original recipe calls for spaghetti)

RECIPE: 

Chop up your garlic finely (you can use a garlic press if you have one), and your onions, bacon and tomatoes into chunky pieces.

Heat up the olive oil in a medium to large pot and sautee the garlic and onions until they are soft but not browned. Add your bacon at this stage and heat, while stirring regularly, until it is cooked. Add your cherry tomatoes and heat for another minute or so.

Add your chopped tomatoes and stir through. At this stage, you can also add a splash of white wine if you happen to have a bottle in the fridge, but this is optional. After this, turn the heat down to a low heat, and let it simmer away for around 30-40 minutes. This will really let the flavors come through.

Cook the pasta according to the details on the package. I prefer my pasta al dente, but whatever you like is fine.

Let your pasta and sauce finish cooking. Serve hot in a bowl with some parmesan sprinkled on top! It keeps well, and will serve 2 (generously), or last you a couple days.

I hope you're both doing well. I miss you.

Lots of love,
Siobhan
xxx