I don’t buy pasta sauce in jars. It isn’t worth it. Most of them have sweeteners, preservatives, and thickening agents which is totally not my scene. Give me something straight. Give me a good sipping vodka, give me a natural ice cream (haagen dazs five, anyone?), and give me a can of tomatoes where I know the ingredients. Pretty much all I need in life.

Also, making a sauce is so easy, and you can use up whatever you have in the fridge. Got basil leaves? Throw them in. Got onions? Go ahead. Got eggplant? Absolutely. Too many martini olives? You’ve got yourself a dish. Just not this dish.

I had to finish up my pound of bacon (though some was thrown away after an unfortunate assault incident concerning a leather belt that had previously touched the seats on the 22-Fillmore muni bus), and had gotten a tiny can of olives on sale for $.60, so I figured I was mostly there.

SPICY BACON, FENNEL, AND OLIVE PASTA SAUCE
Amount: 4-6 servings
Time: <1 hour

INGREDIENTS

• 1/2 tsp fennel seeds
• 1/2 tsp red pepper flakes
• 1/4 tsp black pepper
• 1/2 tsp sea salt
• 4 strips of bacon, cut into 1” slices
• 1 can black olives (it was a little less than 4 ounces)
• 2 cans of crushed tomatoes (regular size)
• 1/2 pound of pasta

DIRECTIONS:

1. In a large pan on medium heat, toast the fennel for about 2 minutes.
2. Add red pepper flakes, black pepper, salt and bacon. Cook until bacon is firm: it will soften up in the sauce. You’ll have a fair amount of bacon grease that’s got all the great flavors of the fennel & red pepper flakes, so if you HAVE to be health conscious, pour some out (not in the sink), but I didn’t.
3. Add the olives to the bacon & grease and cook until bacon is crispy.
4. Add your crushed tomatoes. Personally, I buy diced or petit diced tomatoes and then put them in my magic bullet blender for a few seconds until they are smooth; crushed tomatoes cost extra for some reason. At this point, do not cover. If you cover the tomatoes, they’ll get a stewed tomato taste, and that is not what you are going for. Allow some of that water to evaporate.
5. Boil water for pasta. Salt the water & cook pasta until almost al dente. Then drain.
6. Throw your pasta in with the sauce, stir, cover, and reduce to low. Cook for another 3-5 minutes. Serve immediately. You should be hungry.

Man, bacon is awesome. The smokiness goes great with the fennel and red pepper flakes. If you wanted something a little more mild, reduce the red pepper flakes and throw maybe 1/2 cup of half and half or cream in the tomato sauce when you put it on low, stir it well, and you will be set.