Baked Ziti With Cream And Pancetta - cooking recipe

Ingredients

1 tablespoon olive oil
1 -2 slice pancetta, chopped up into tiny pieces (about half an inch thick)
1 1/4 cups heavy cream (35% cream)
1/2 cup parmigiano-reggiano cheese, grated
1/2 cup pecorino romano cheese, grated
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon black pepper, freshly cracked
1/2 lb ziti pasta, dried
2 tablespoons butter, unsalted

Preparation

Bring a large pot of water to boil, add salt.
In a skillet, heat the olive oil and add the pancetta. Cook for 5 to 10 minutes, until the pancetta is golden. Be careful not burn. Remove the pancetta to a plate and reserve the oil and fat in the skillet.
When the water is boiling and you've salted it, add the pasta and cook for 6 minutes. Meanwile, heat the oven to 500 degrees F.
In a large bowl, combine the cream, salt and pepper. Stir in the pancetta and a tablespoon or two of the oil/fat left in the skillet (flavour flavour flavour!).
Once the pasta has cooked for 6 minutes, drain and immediately add to the cream mixture. Stir well to ensure that the pasta is coated in the cream and cheese.
Pour the mixture into a deep baking dish and bake in the oven for 12 minutes. The pasta should be golden on top and the cream should be bubbling. If it's not, bake for another 5 minutes and check again.
Remove the pasta from the oven and let sit for 5 minutes to cool slightly. Serve immediately.