Mario Batali’s Rigatoni

Bring a large pot of water to a boil and salt it. Trim and peel the onion. Rinse the carrots, celery root, and celery. Peel the carrots and celery root. Cut all the vegetables into big chunks and put them in a food processor with the garlic and 2 tablespoons oil. Pulse, stopping to scrape the sides once or twice, until the consistency is smooth and even but not pureed.

Put 1 tablespoon oil in a skillet over medium-high heat. Add the bread crumbs and cook, stirring frequently and adjusting the heat so they don’t burn, until they’re crisp, dark brown, and sizzling, 3 to 5 minutes. Transfer the bread crumbs to paper towels.

Return the skillet to medium-high heat and add the remaining tablespoon oil. When it’s hot, add the vegetables and cook, stirring frequently until the onion becomes translucent, 1 to 3 minutes. Add the tomato paste, lower the heat to medium-low, and cook, stirring frequently until the mixture darkens, 5 to 10 minutes. Add the crushed tomatoes and season aggressively with salt and pepper. Bring the mixture to a boil, and then reduce the heat so it bubbles gently but steadily. Cook, stirring occasionally until the sauce thickens, 15 to 20 minutes. Rinse and chop the parsley.

Meanwhile, add the pasta to the boiling water and stir occasionally. Start tasting it after 7 minutes; it should be tender but not mushy. Remove about 1 cup of the cooking water and reserve. When the pasta is done, drain it into a colander. When the sauce is ready, add the pasta, raise the heat to medium-high, and cook, stirring constantly until it’s steaming, 1 or 2 minutes. If the sauce gets too dry as it heats, add small amounts of the reserved cooking water; a tight sauce is good. Taste, adjust the seasoning, and serve, garnished with the parsley and bread crumbs.