Effortless : Italian BLT Cavatappi

Effortless is not defined as something that requires no effort at all, it's something that is attained with admirable ease. This pasta fits that definition flawlessly. While yes, it requires some effort on your part it's incredibly simple. Truly a superb summer pasta. A dish I prepared on a whim as a solution to a slow summer Thursday, yet one that I would be proud to serve to dinner guests out on the back deck preferably with plenty of wine and a nice sunset. It's ideal for both settings because this pasta requires few ingredients and only a little of your time. Leaving you more of your lazy day, or time with friends to be enjoyed. 

Cavatappi is one of my preferred pastas. I'm fond of it's corkscrew contours and light ridges. It's shape lends to a denser, chewier noodle that holds any sauce you give it incredibly well. I usually have a bag or two in the cupboard, which is why you see it here. In fact, the only thing I purchased to make this pasta was the tomato and the pancetta. All the other ingredients are generally in my cupboard, refrigerator or herb pots. I love dinners like that, don't you? The pancetta is fried and chopped into bits, lending a bit of crunch and a bite of salt to the cavatappi. Instead of a sauce I whisked up what I would dub a dressing, a bit of olive oil, white wine vinegar, salt, white pepper, 3 cloves of purple garlic minced, plenty of green basil and italian parsley. I doused the hot pasta with the dressing, tossed in the pancetta, topped it off with fresh bits of cherry tomatoes and a sprinkling of pecorino romano. Within 20 minutes we were sitting outside, enjoying the sun, each scarfing on big bowls of tangy, fresh, salty cavatappi. 

The boyfriend and I didn't set out to create an italian inspired BLT pasta when we began cooking dinner, but as we sat eating we realized that ('hey') this was a BLT in pasta form. Lots of herby greens, crispy pork, and sweet juicy tomato. If you're tastebuds are anything like mine, it really doesn't get much better than that! A glorious way to end a sunny day indeed. . .