Amatriciana
Amatriciana, a classic Roman pasta dish centered around a tomato sauce with crispy bits of bacon in it, is my hands down favorite pasta to make at home. The best part of this dish is the crispy bacon - traditionally made with guanciale but that has become enormously difficult to find unless you’re the kind of person with an Italian butcher. Good quality pancetta will do just fine in its place, especially paired with a nice pasta (tradition here is buccatini but I actually prefer spaghetti), and a high quality whole canned tomato (never, ever buy your canned tomatoes crushed or diced in my book). The last protip: toss the entire rind from your piece of Pecorino into the sauce while it cooks. Buon appetito.
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¾ lb (340g) good quality spaghetti or buccatini (I find a whole pound bag just gives you too much pasta to sauce ratio than I prefer, but use up the whole package if you like)
1x 28oz can or 2x 12oz (400g) cans of the best whole, peeled tomatoes you can find
1/2lb (200g) good quality guanciale or pancetta, chopped into small cubes
1 small gold onion, chopped
2 garlic cloves, minced
One large squeeze tomato paste
Splash olive oil
Splash of dry white wine (optional, if you have it)
1 small spoon red pepper flakes, depending on your heat tolerance
½ (1.2dl) grated cup Pecorino cheese (Parmesan is doable, but Pecorino or even Grana Padano has a sharper saltier flavor that suits this dish better), plus the rind cut off the cheese to use and extra cheese grated to serve
Fresh black pepper and salt
Optional chopped parsley for garnish
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Put a large, well salted pasta pot on to boil but assume you won’t be putting in your pasta for another 30 minutes or so.
Heat a large pan over high heat (my preference is a big stainless steel pan for these type of sauces) and add your cubed guanciale or pancetta in a single layer. Fry, stirring often to scrape pieces from getting stuck on the pan as they cook in their own fat, until very brown and crispy and much of the fat has rendered. While cooking, add a few grinds of black pepper to meat.
While the meat cooks, open your cans of tomatoes and using a sharp knife, carefully run the blade through the can to break up the whole tomatoes, but being careful not to damage your knife.
Turn off the heat and using a slotted spoon, move the browned meat to a bowl but leave most of the fat still in the pan.
Return your pan to medium heat and add a splash of olive oil, followed by your chopped onion, stirring to coat. Add your garlic and stir to coat again. After 1-2 minutes, add a splash of white wine, if using, and stir until the alcohol cooks off, scraping the bottom of your pan to release all the browned bits from browning your meat.
Once onions are softened and starting to turn translucent, pour both cans of your tomatoes into your pan, using a wooden spoon to break up the tomatoes even more. Stir until onions, garlic and tomato are evenly distributed. Add a pinch of salt and cook on a low simmer for 10 minutes, making sure it is not bubbling too aggressively.
After 10 minutes, add a large squeeze of tomato paste and the rind cut off your block of cheese directly to your pan, coating it in sauce. Leave the rind to cook in the sauce, over a very low simmer, another 20 minutes.
After 20 minutes, stir sauce thoroughly, making sure no parts are sticking to the pan. Add your meat and any juice that may have collected back to the pan, as well as adding a small spoon of red pepper flakes to the sauce. At this point, add your pasta to boiling water. If your sauce is starting to feel too thick, add a spoon full of pasta water and stir until consistency feels loose.
Remove the cheese rind from your sauce and turn the sauce off from heat. Add your cup of grated cheese to sauce and stir, tasting for salt and pepper but it shouldn’t need any additional by this point as the cheese is quite salty.
When pasta is al dente, after about 8 minutes, drain and add to pan off heat, tossing to combine. Serve with a crack of blacked pepper, additional cheese, and optional chopped parsley.
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