Rigatoni in a Sauce Alla Fresca

Name: Rigatoni in a Sauce Alla Fresca
Prep time: 30 min
Cook time: 15 min
Total time: 45 min
Cuisine: American
Ingredients: ½ cup extra-virgin olive oil; 9 cloves garlic, halved lengthwise; 9 cloves garlic, halved lengthwise; 2 fresh cayenne peppers, chopped, or 3 teaspoons crushed red pepper flakes; 2 fresh cayenne peppers, chopped, or 3 teaspoons crushed red pepper flakes; 1 pound lean bacon; 1 Bermuda onion, diced; 4 ripe plum tomatoes, diced, or 2 (28-ounce) cans crushed tomatoes; 4 ripe plum tomatoes, diced, or 2 (28-ounce) cans crushed tomatoes; 1 (15-ounce) jar artichoke hearts, packed in water, drained, and quartered; 1 (15-ounce) jar artichoke hearts, packed in water, drained, and quartered; 1 pound box rigatoni; ⅓ cup roughly chopped fresh basil; Salt and pepper, to taste; Salt and pepper, to taste; 1 cup freshly grated Romano cheese

Preparation info

Serves
4 to 5

Difficulty
Easy
Ready in
45 min

Appears in

Cooking with the Firehouse Chef

By Keith Young

Published 2005

About

This is the first pasta dish I created for the Ronzoni Firefighters Pasta Cook-Off. I was chosen as one of the three finalists, and Ronzoni donated $10,000 in each of our names to the Uniformed Firefighters Widows and Orphans Fund and the Burn Center at Cornell Medical Center.

Ingredients

½ cup extra-virgin olive oil
9 cloves garlic, halved lengthwise
2

Americas
United States
Pasta

Method

Combine the oil, garlic, and cayenne peppers in a small saucepan and sauté over medium heat until the garlic starts to brown. Remove the pan from the heat and set it aside.

In a large pot, bring 5 quarts cold, salted water to a boil over high heat. While the water is coming to a boil, cook the bacon in a large skillet and set it aside to drain on paper towels. Drain all the grease from