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1
Heat a saucepan, dutch oven or braised over medium heat. When warm, add the olive oil and pancetta. Cook pancetta until golden brown.
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2
While the pancetta browns, slice your onion and garlic clove in half and rinse and dry the fresh oregano, leaving the leaves on the sprig.
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3
In a large bowl, crush the canned tomatoes by hand, leaving some texture, and remove any basil leaves.
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4
When the pancetta is brown, add a pinch of crushed red pepper and stir for about one minute. Tip the pan and remove any excess fat with a spoon.
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5
Add crushed tomatoes to the pan, then nestle in the onion, butter, garlic, parmesan rind, oregano sprigs, add a big pinch of salt, and stir. Simmer on low or medium low, uncovered - keeping a steady but low bubble - for about 45 minutes.
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6
Remove the onion, garlic and oregano from the sauce.
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7
Cook pasta (rigatoni works well here) about a minute shy of package directions, reserving about a cup of starchy cooking water.
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8
Drain the pasta and add to the sauce along with about a quarter cup of pasta water - more if needed to make the sauce come together. Let the pasta finish cooking in the sauce, it will absorb the flavor of the sauce into the pasta.
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9
Plate the pasta and garnish with basil and grated parmesan, if desired. A drizzle of good olive oil is good here too.
