Eviction Notice Pasta

Towards the end of my pregnancy, I kept getting messages about this pasta dish from a restaurant called Frank Papa's in St. Louis that apparently has put a lot of very pregnant women into labor! The restaurant's "Eviction Notice" special is a penne amatriciana which is a spicy tomato sauce with meat (typically guanciale.) I've been served a ton of different versions of amatriciana so I'm sharing how I prefer to eat it -- not the traditional Italian version. ;)

What you need:

• 1/2 lb pasta (I love it with bucatini)
• 2 tbsp EVOO
• 1/2 cup diced onion
• 2-3 minced garlic cloves
• Crushed red pepper flakes (as much as you can handle - I do 1 tsp)
• 1/2 cup diced guanciale (pancetta or thick bacon works too)
• 1/2 ground spicy Italian sausage
• 28 oz can of whole peeled tomatoes
• Parmesan cheese

What to do:

1. Heat a sauce pot and cook the onion, garlic and red pepper flakes in the EVOO until translucent and fragrant.
2. Add both meats and cook until it starts to brown.
3. Pour the whole peeled tomatoes and all their juice into a large bowl and crush the tomatoes by hand. (You could use crushed tomatoes here instead but I like crushing them myself for a chunkier texture!)
4. Add the tomatoes and juice from the can to the sauce pot and let simmer for at least a half hour. It should thicken up a bit, if the sauce needs thinning - add pasta water.
5. Pour the sauce over cooked pasta and top with parmesan cheese before serving!