Red wine and tomato spaghetti

Red wine is the hero ingredient of this simple weeknight tomato pasta sauce. Crispy pancetta lardons add salty, smoky flavour, while the red wine and parmesan cheese add depth and complexity to the sauce. Serve with a grind of black pepper and scatter with fresh parsley.

• serves

  6

• prep

  5 minutes

• cook

  15 minutes

• difficulty

  Easy

Ingredients

• 2 cups red wine (separated into ½ cup & 1 ½ cups)
• 500 g dried spaghetti
• ¼ cup olive oil
• 150 g pancetta, cut into lardons
• 3 garlic cloves, sliced
• 400 ml passata
• 25 g butter, diced at room temp
• ¾ cup finely grated parmesan cheese, to serve
• ¼ cup finely shredded flat-leaf parsley, to serve (plus extra whole leaves)
• salt and black pepper

Instructions

1. Bring a large saucepan of salted water to the boil. Add a ½ cup of wine and boil the pasta, testing about 2 minutes less than it says on the packet.
2. Heat the olive oil in a large frying pan over medium heat and fry the pancetta until crisp. Remove the pancetta from the pan and add the garlic. Fry for a few seconds, then add the passata and the remaining red wine. Bring to a simmer and cook for 5 minutes, or until reduced and thick.
3. Transfer the pasta into the red wine sauce and toss with the pancetta, butter and half the parsley until combined.
4. Divide spaghetti between plates and grind over black pepper. Scatter with parmesan and remaining parsley to serve.

Photography by Kitti Gould.

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Cook's Notes

Oven temperatures are for conventional; if using fan-forced (convection), reduce the temperature by 20˚C. | We use Australian tablespoons and cups: 1 teaspoon equals 5 ml; 1 tablespoon equals 20 ml; 1 cup equals 250 ml. | All herbs are fresh (unless specified) and cups are lightly packed. | All vegetables are medium size and peeled, unless specified. | All eggs are 55-60 g, unless specified.