Strisce alla Chiantigiana – pappardelle in a pancetta and Chianti sauce

This combination of simple ingredients results in a complex but super-speedy umami rich red wine sauce. The Strisce alla Chiantigiana recipe originates in Florence. Close your eyes, taste this and you could be there.

This recipe serves 2, feel free to double it but for some reason I feel it is a dinner a deux rather than a family dinner so I tend to make it in a smaller size.

The pasta

Strisce means strips of pasta but you can make it with penne or another shape. In California I use whole milled pappardelle, particularly the Community Grains brand which is grown from ancient grains (more easily digested than modern wheat) and milled whole by stone, thus preserving more nutrients and keeping the full grain (unlike most things that are sold as wholegrain where the grain is split and machine ground then re-combined later). In the UK try Garofalo organic whole wheat pappardelle from Ocado. If you are gluten-free try making this with brown rice penne (from Trader Joe’s in the US or Waitrose in the UK).