Rigatoni alla Matriciana

Directions

1. First, skin the tomatoes. I tend to blanch them in boiling water for about 5 minutes, as this softens them, reducing their cooking time, as well as making it easier to remove the skins. Do remember if you do this to cool the tomatoes before skinning them, as they get extremely hot!
2. Use a piece of kitchen towel to wipe the olive oil around a medium-sized pan, ensuring the whole thing has a very thin coating
3. Add the pancetta and cook on a low heat for about 5 minutes until the fat starts to melt
4. At this point, add the garlic, three quarters of the chilli, half the basil, shredded, the onion and the pepper. Increase the heat to medium and cook for 10 minutes, stirring regularly
5. Next add the skinned tomatoes - either crushing them with your hands as you place them into the pan (careful the juice doesn't squirt everywhere!) or crushing them in the pan with a wooden spoon or spatula, then add a pinch of salt
6. The majority of pastas that take approximately 10 minutes to cook should be added at this point to a pot filled with plenty of well salted boiling water
7. Cook the sauce for another 10 minutes or so on a high heat - it should reduce vigorously. Just before you take the pasta off the heat, shred and add the rest of the basil and the minced chilli and stir quickly into the sauce to distribute evenly before taking it off the heat
8. Drain the pasta then add it to the pan; stir to ensure it is all generously coated with the sauce
9. serve immediately and garnish with parmesan to taste