Welcome to my Pasta A-Z series! Starting off at the beginning with Amatriciana. This is one of the 4 classic Roman pasta dishes. Traditionally, it’s just 4 ingredients: pasta, tomatoes, guanciale, and pecorino cheese. As recipes go, people make tweaks and changes, so here are mine.
INGREDIENTS
-Can of crushed tomatoes
-Guanciale*
-Grated pecorino cheese
-Pasta**
-1 clove of garlic (whole)
*Guanciale (pork cheek) is traditional , but my grocery store didn’t have any so pancetta does the job. You can also use bacon but keep that as a last resort.
**I used bucatini for this but you can use whatever pasta floats your boat.
DIRECTIONS
-Sauteè the guanciale (or pancetta, see note) slow and low to render the fat.
-When mostly cooked remove it from the pan and add the whole clove of garlic. Swish this around in the rendered fat to add the garlic flavor, then remove after a few minutes.
-Add the crushed tomatoes to the pan and bring to a simmer.
-Cook your pasta (reserve a splash of pasta water).
-Add the guanciale back into the sauce (save some to top at the end). Add the pecorino, a dash of salt and pepper, and some pasta water to the sauce.
-When the pasta is just before al dente, add it to the sauce to finish cooking.
-Plate your pasta and add a little more cheese and the reserved guanciale.
-Enjoy!
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chef grc 