Pasta con Pancetta e Cipolle
Slow-cooked sweet onions and crisp bacon tossed through pasta with butter and pepper.
Ingredients
- 200 g Pasta
- 120 g Bacon
- 2 Onion
- 3 cloves Garlic
- 30 g Butter
- 1 tbsp Extra-virgin olive oil
- 1 tsp Salt
- 1 tsp Black pepper
- 1 tbsp Red wine vinegar (optional)
Method
- Dice the bacon; slice the onions thin. Mince the garlic.
- Render the bacon in a pan over medium for 6 minutes until crisp. Set aside and leave the fat.
- Add the oil to the fat. Add the onions, lower the heat, and cook stirring occasionally for 25 minutes until deeply caramelised. Pull off the heat when done.
- While the onions cook down, bring salted water to the boil.
- Cook the pasta one minute shy of al dente.
- Reserve a mugful of pasta water, then drain.
- Return the onions to low heat. Add the garlic, vinegar, butter, and lots of pepper to the onions. Toss with the drained pasta, a splash of the reserved pasta water, and the crisp bacon. Serve hot.
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About Pasta con Pancetta e Cipolle
Pasta con pancetta e cipolle is a rustic Italian pasta that turns a handful of humble ingredients into something that eats far richer than its parts. The heart of it is onions cooked low and slow, around twenty-five minutes, until they collapse into a sweet, jammy tangle, an almost caramelized base that gives the dish its depth. Crisp rendered bacon or pancetta adds salt and smoke, butter brings richness, and a splash of red wine vinegar cuts through it all so the sweetness stays in check. Plenty of black pepper keeps it from feeling one-note.
The result is a comforting, savory-sweet plate: silky caramelized onions clinging to the pasta, punctuated by crisp bacon and rounded out with butter, with the vinegar and pepper providing a welcome bite. It's cucina povera in spirit, an unfussy dinner that feels indulgent without any cream, and it pairs well with a glass of red and little else. The one thing it asks is time and attention on the onions, which need a genuinely slow cook to reach that jammy sweetness rather than merely softening. Everything else, from crisping the bacon to boiling the pasta to al dente, comes together quickly around that.
Pasta con Pancetta e Cipolle: frequently asked questions
How many calories are in Pasta con Pancetta e Cipolle?
A serving has about 833 calories — 22.5g protein, 88.3g carbs, 44.6g fat, 5.8g fiber. Figures are estimated from the ingredient amounts and will shift with your portions and brands.
Is Pasta con Pancetta e Cipolle gluten-free?
As written, no — it contains Pasta. You'd need a certified gluten-free swap for that ingredient to make it gluten-free.
Is Pasta con Pancetta e Cipolle dairy-free?
Not as written — it uses Butter. Swapping it for a plant-based alternative makes it dairy-free.
How long does Pasta con Pancetta e Cipolle take to make?
About 40 minutes start to finish, but only around 15 of those are hands-on — the rest is largely unattended cooking time you can step away from. In the Homecooked app the timers and parallel steps are sequenced for you so the hands-on part feels even shorter.
Do I need every ingredient to make Pasta con Pancetta e Cipolle?
The core ingredients are essential, but you can leave out red wine vinegar — it's optional and mainly there for extra flavor or finish.
How many servings does Pasta con Pancetta e Cipolle make?
This recipe makes 2 servings. In the app you can scale it up or down and the ingredient amounts adjust automatically.