This recipe, perfect for a cold winter’s night, is just what you want this weekend. And, you can have this delicious pasta dish made in less than 30 minutes.

Pair it with a simple green salad with an easy balsamic vinaigrette and more bread to soak up sauce if you’re not afraid of carbs. Drink your favorite cheap red wine.

The great thing about this recipe is that it is good for a group of up to 6 guests for dinner or a couple of friends with leftovers in the fridge for the weekend. The recipe uses up an old(er) end of salame or fresh sausage if you prefer to substitute. Likewise, sub fresh garlic for the confit but use 1/4 of the amount called for. This is as easy as it gets.

Recipe as follows:

1/4 # Salame Nostrano or like (roughly cut into small pieces if whole)
2 T. Garlic Confit (with oil)
Black Pepper to taste
1/4 t. Grated Nutmeg
Pinch of Dried thyme (you can do this yourself)
1 Can of Your Favorite Whole Tomatoes (this dish depends on a good can of tomatoes, so choose wisely)
1/2 Bunch of Chopped Basil or a T. of Rosemary.
1# Rigatoni
Kosher Salt to taste
Grated Dry Jack or any other Good Hard Cheese

Bring 8 quarts of salted water to a boil.
Meanwhile, using a food processor, pulverize the salame in quick pulses. Add the garlic and pulse to combine.
Place a large saute pan over medium high heat and add salame/garlic mixture to it. Cook to render and slightly caramelize, but do not burn.
Meanwhile place tomatoes in same food processor and pulse to break up slightly. Add tomatoes to sauté pan and rinse can with no more than 1/2 can worth of water, add to sauté pan. Simmer sauce while pasta is cooking. Add other spices to sauce; check for salt content adjusting as necessary. Simmer for no more than 10 minutes.
Cook pasta to al dente and add to sauce, reserving a bit of the cooking water. If sauce is too thick, add a bit of the pasta water, if too loose, let sauce reduce a bit more.
Add fresh herbs and cheese to pasta. Toss once more and serve with extra cheese on side.
serves 6

Bonus Recipe

Garlic Confit:
1 Head Garlic (all cloves peeled)
1 Cup Olive Oil

Bring garlic cloves and olive oil up to a simmer in a small sauce pan just big enough to hold all. Simmer very low and slow until garlic is tender and barely golden brown (about 45 minutes). Store, covered with oil in refrigerator for up to a month (always use a clean utensil to remove garlic and/or oil).