Bucatini all’Amatriciana

Bucatini all’Amatriciana

Regional dishes are often a source of dispute among Italians, whether they are professional chefs or amateur cooks, and spaghetti all’Amatriciana are no exception! Bucatini or spaghetti, bacon or guanciale, garlic or onion … these are the main questions that anyone who is preparing to cook this recipe for the first time has to face.

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Prep Time 10 minutes mins

Cook Time 25 minutes mins

Course Main Course

Cuisine Italian

Servings 4

Ingredients

  

• 1/2 pound of spaghetti or buccatini
• 15 ounces peeled tomatoes
• 8 ounces Guanciale di Amatrice or bacon
• 4 ounces Pecorino romano freshly grated
• a pinch of salt
• extra virgin olive oil as needed
• fresh red crushed pepper to taste or 1 chili pepper
• 1/2 cup white wine

Instructions

 

• Bring a large pot of salted water to cook the pasta to a boil over high heat.
• Next prepare the bacon or guanciale. If you are using guanciale, remove the rind and cut into slices of about 1/4″ thick, and cut into 1 inch pices.
• In a large skillet over low heat, add a drizzle of oil into the pan, and add the whole chili pepper or the red crushed pepper and the bacon. Brown over low heat for 7-8 minutes until the fat becomes transparent and the meat crispy. Stir often and be careful not to burn it.
• When the fat of the bacon has melted, add the white wine. Raise the heat and let it evaporate.
• Transfer the strips of bacon to a plate and set them aside.
• Pour the peeled tomatoes into the same skillet. Squeeze the tomatoes them with your hands directly into the skillet, stir and continue cooking the sauce for about 10 minutes.
• At this point the water in the pan will have come to a boil, add the pasta and cook until al dente.
• Season the sauce with salt, to taste. If you used a whole chili remove the chili from the sauce.
• Add the strips of bacon back into the sauce mix.
• Once the spaghetti is cooked, drain the pasta and add it directly into the pan with the sauce.
• Mix pasta very quickly with the sauce.
• Finally sprinkle with grated Pecorino and Enjoy!

We usually don’t make this sauce at home. But, the other day a client brought Nicola a huge Guanciale di Amatrice and a big chunk of Pecorino aged for like 24 months. This person comes from near Amatrice. If you don’t have the cheek of the pig, you can use bacon. And it is also up to you, if you want to serve this with bucatini or spaghetti.