This five-ingredient pasta recipe from Ayesha Curry's new cookbook, The Seasoned Life, will instantly become part of your weekly dinner rotation, as it has for the Food Network host and her husband, Stephen Curry. The NBA star's favorite recipe of Ayesha's is chicken parmesan, which Ayesha admits you won't find in the book, but this pasta is the next best thing. With just five ingredients (egg noodles, pancetta, red bell pepper, parmesan, and basil), you can have a family-friendly dinner on the table in half an hour or less. The star of this dish is the diced pancetta, so don't skimp on it. When it crisps up, it almost tastes like bacon bits and provides the perfect textural contrast to the pasta and the softened peppers.
I didn't make any changes to the recipe except the type of pasta. I couldn't find egg noodles at my local grocery store, so I used fusilli instead, but I recommend using egg noodles if you can find them. I'd also go heavy on the salt and pepper at the end, and if you've got lemon juice, red pepper flakes, and white wine or chicken stock to deglaze the pan after the pancetta crisps up, this dish will be even better. But then again, that's where the convenience of five ingredients comes in!
Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil. Add the noodles and cook according to the package directions.
Meanwhile, heat a large skillet over medium heat. Cook the pancetta until nice and crisp, about 5 minutes. Using a slotted spoon, transfer the pancetta to a bowl and pour off about half of the fat. (You should have about 1/4 cup fat left in the pan).
Add the peppers and cook, tossing occasionally, until they are softened, about 5 minutes.
Drain the noodles, saving 1/2 cup of the pasta water, and return the noodles to the large pot. Stir in the crispy pancetta and the peppers. Add about 1/4 cup of the reserved pasta water and stir in the cheese, adding more of the pasta water if the pasta looks dry. Stir in the basil right before serving.