Marry Me Pasta

A lot going on at the moment!!!

What I’m Thinking About:

🍾 Spritz season. I’m ready.

🌸 Went to Lawbird for their Sakura (cherry blossom!) pop-up (which is going on for another week and a half!) and can’t stop thinking about their drink called Pink Shadow. Please add this to the regular menu.

🍓 Jeni’s Strawberry Jam at Land Grant is coming up May 25-26. Anyone going??

🍚 Crispy rice salad? Sign me up.

❤️ Not entirely food related, but also very food related: A+ marketing.

What I Made:

Guess what?! We got engaged! Tom proposed two weekends ago, hence the delay in a post as we live in the craziness of celebrating an engagement and getting ready to move to a new condo in a few weeks. Last week, we ate very few meals at home and were instead going out with family and friends to celebrate. Because of that, I’m just now getting around to making a celebratory meal for us at home. Enter: Marry Me Pasta.

What, you may ask, is Marry Me Pasta? A few seasons ago on Top Chef, Buddha Lo made what he called “Marry Me Pasta”, which was the first dish his now-wife made for him. After eating it, he told her that if they were still single at 30, they should get married. At its heart, its Rigatoni Amatriciana, which is one of the core four Roman pastas. It also happens to be what Tom ordered when we ate at Salumeria Roscioli in Rome a few October’s ago and ended up being our favorite meal of the trip. We both still talk about the perfectly cooked chunks of guanciale (cured pork cheek) dotted throughout the sauce and al dente pasta that made that meal truly unforgettable. While I was certain my own attempt to make it wouldn’t live up, it felt like the perfect time to try.

I was able to find Buddha’s recipe here. A few thoughts to take with you if you make it:

• It’s spicy! If you don’t like spice, start with 1/2 the amount of red pepper flakes and add more as needed once it’s cooked.

• Maybe I missed it, but I didn’t see where to add the thyme and therefore didn’t add the thyme. Aka, I forgot. My best guess would be to add it before popping the sauce in the oven.

• If you can’t find guanciale, you can replace with pancetta, which is cured pork belly. Guanciale is going to be stronger in flavor and more delicate, so it’s worth if it’s easy to find! I got mine at Butcher & the Grocer.

• The instructions said to cook the sauce in the oven until the oil separates from the tomatoes. There’s then no further comment about the oil. I didn’t skim it off, but am wondering if I was supposed to? Please report back if you have thoughts.

Overall, no, mine was not as good as the one we had in Rome, but absolutely worth it!