I made Ina Garten's favorite weeknight pasta and had an easy and delicious dinner ready in 30 minutes

Jul 29, 2026 01:21 AM - 2 hours ago 5

Ina Garten's weeknight pasta

Ina Garten's go-to weeknight pasta only takes 30 minutes. Anneta Konstantinides/Business Insider

Every cook has a go-to weeknight pasta.

Gordon Ramsay loves whipping up a 10-minute turkey and leek pasta each week for his kids. Ina Garten prefers a much Italian style, 1 pinch bucatini, pancetta, and pecorino.

"Everyone needs a fewer speedy pasta dinners successful their repertoire, and this 1 is really adaptable," Garten wrote successful "Go-To Dinners," her astir caller cookbook. "It's awesome arsenic is, but you could besides service it pinch veal meatballs 1 nighttime and pinch a large dollop of ricotta the next."

I emotion whipping up Garten's pastas — I've moreover classed them — so I knew I had to effort this.

You astir apt already person astir of the ingredients for Ina Garten's weeknight pasta.

Ingredients for Ina Garten's weeknight pasta

Ingredients for Ina Garten's weeknight pasta. Anneta Konstantinides/Business Insider

To make 4 servings of Garten's weeknight pasta astatine home, you'll need:

  • 1 lb of dried spaghettoni aliases bucatini
  • 1 ½ cups of chopped yellowish onion
  • 1 cup of freshly grated Italian pecorino cheese
  • ½ cup of barren reddish wine, specified arsenic Chianti
  • 1 tin (14.5 ounces) of crushed San Marzano tomatoes
  • 6 ounces of (¼-inch) diced pancetta
  • 2 cloves of minced garlic
  • 1 ½ teaspoons of sugar
  • ½ spoon of crushed reddish capsicum flakes
  • ¼ cup of julienned caller basil leaves, positive other for serving

Garten notes that regular spaghetti, which is thinner than spaghettoni, tin besides beryllium utilized pinch this recipe.

Before I started cooking, I prepped my herbs and veggies.

Chopping the basil for Ina Garten's weeknight pasta

My chopped basil. Anneta Konstantinides/Business Insider

I chopped the onion, minced my ail cloves, and julienned the basil.

Once my prep was done, I filled a ample cookware pinch water, added 2 tablespoons of salt, and brought it to a boil truthful it would beryllium fresh to navigator the pasta later.

Then I began making the sauce.

Olive lipid heating up for Ina Garten's weeknight pasta

I added 3 tablespoons of oliva lipid to my Dutch oven, allowing it to power up. Anneta Konstantinides/Business Insider

I added 3 tablespoons of oliva lipid to my Dutch oven, which I placed complete medium-low heat.

I threw successful the diced pancetta, utilizing a small much than Garten had recommended.

Adding the proscuitto for Ina Garten's weeknight pasta

Garten says to navigator the pancetta for 5 to 7 minutes. Anneta Konstantinides/Business Insider

I had bought 2 4-ounce packets of diced pancetta, truthful I decided to adhd a small much to the pasta. I ended up loving the other flavor, truthful I'd urge trying this.

Garten recommends sautéing the pancetta for 5 to 7 minutes, until the pieces person browned. Once my pancetta was ready, I utilized a slotted spoon to transportation it to a mini bowl.

After I removed the pancetta, I added the chopped onion.

Cooking the onions and ail for Ina Garten's weeknight pasta

I sautéed the bulb for 10 minutes. Anneta Konstantinides/Business Insider

I sautéed the bulb for 10 minutes, until it started to brown.

I added the pancetta backmost into the Dutch oven, on pinch the minced ail and reddish capsicum flakes.

Adding the proscuitto for Ina Garten's weeknight pasta

Adding the pancetta, garlic, and reddish capsicum flakes. Anneta Konstantinides/Business Insider

I cooked everything together for 1 minute.

Then I added the wine.

Adding the reddish vino for Ina Garten's weeknight pasta

Adding the vino to the Dutch oven. Anneta Konstantinides/Business Insider

Garten recommends cooking everything for 3 to 5 minutes.

Once the vino had astir evaporated, I added the tomatoes and sugar.

Sauce for Ina Garten's weeknight pasta

I fto the Dutch oven simmer, uncovered, for 10 minutes. Anneta Konstantinides/Business Insider

I brought the condiment to a boil, past lowered the heat. I fto everything successful the Dutch oven simmer, uncovered, for 10 minutes, stirring occasionally.

While my condiment simmered, I added the pasta to the boiling water.

Cooking the pasta for Ina Garten's weeknight pasta

I cooked my bucatini pasta while the condiment simmered. Anneta Konstantinides/Business Insider

Garten recommends cooking the pasta for 2 minutes little than al dente according to the directions connected the package.

This meant I needed to navigator my bucatini for 9 minutes, but it decidedly wasn't enough. The noodles were still really tough. I knew they wouldn't decorativeness cooking successful the sauce, truthful I cooked my pasta a fewer minutes longer.

Every stove is different, truthful spot your sensation buds.

Once the condiment was ready, I seasoned it pinch brackish and capsicum earlier throwing successful the pasta.

Adding the pasta to the condiment for Ina Garten's weeknight pasta

Adding the pasta to the sauce. Anneta Konstantinides/Insider

Garten recommends adding 1 spoon of brackish and ½ spoon of freshly crushed achromatic capsicum erstwhile the condiment has vanished simmering.

After throwing the noodles into the pot, I besides added a scatter of pasta water.

I cooked everything complete debased power for 2 minutes, stirring my noodles pinch the tongs.

Making Ina Garten's weeknight pasta

Stirring the pasta complete debased heat. Anneta Konstantinides/Business Insider

I added much pasta h2o to execute the "loose sauce" consistency that Garten recommended.

I took my Dutch oven disconnected the power and added the pecorino and basil.

Adding the food and basil to Ina Garten's weeknight pasta

Adding the food and basil to the pasta. Anneta Konstantinides/Business Insider

I added half a cup of the pecorino and each the basil and tossed everything together.

Garten's weeknight pasta had a rustic charm that reminded maine of 1 of my favourite Italian restaurants successful New York City.

Ina Garten's weeknight pasta

Ina Garten's weeknight pasta. Anneta Konstantinides/Business Insider

One of my go-to spots erstwhile I lived successful NYC was Cotenna, an Italian edifice successful the West Village. It was tiny, intimate, and affordable, and my girlfriends and I perfectly loved it.

The work was ever great, the vino was ever cheap, and the pasta was ever delicious. Everything astir the spot conscionable felt warm. And thing astir Garten's weeknight pasta — which focuses connected classic, approachable Italian ingredients — brought maine correct backmost there.

I served the pasta pinch immoderate much food and basil connected apical earlier digging in. I was instantly a immense fan.

Ina Garten's weeknight pasta

Garten's weeknight pasta is simply a awesome meal aft a engaged workday. Anneta Konstantinides/Business Insider

The rich | pancetta worked truthful good pinch the earthy flavors of the basil and Chianti, and the San Marzano tomatoes added a lovely, subtle sweetness. The footwear of the reddish capsicum flakes rounded retired the sauce, which had a astonishing extent of spirit contempt looking rather simple.

This crockery besides took astir 30 minutes to finish, pinch very minimal prep aliases effort. Who doesn't emotion that?

Garten's weeknight pasta doesn't conscionable look for illustration it comes from a tiny small Italian edifice — it tastes for illustration it does, too.

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Anneta Konstantinides is simply a manner analogous astatine Business Insider, pinch a attraction connected nutrient and travel. She loves taking readers inside Michelin-starred kitchens and exploring the world of fine-dining, and she's ever trying to find the best Ina Garten and Gordon Ramsay recipes. Her 2nd location is LAX, wherever she's often catching a formation and reviewing airlines.Anneta has besides been reporting connected the pageant manufacture for the past six years and has interviewed each Miss USA and Miss Universe victor since 2019. She was a finalist astatine the LA Press Club Awards for her investigation into the  2022 Miss USA ungraded and was featured successful The New York Times Presents section "How to Fix a Pageant" connected Hulu successful September 2023. After graduating from UCLA pinch a B.A successful English Literature and a insignificant successful movie & television, Anneta worked arsenic a journalist successful London, Sydney, New York City, Los Angeles, and Washington, DC. You tin scope Anneta astatine [email protected]

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