Bucatini All'Amatriciana

Since I've been trimming down Friday has been a bit of a 'splurge' night. I try and be really good all week and then on Friday I let my hair down (or I would if I had much left), open a bottle of vino and enjoy a hearty meal (although with a far smaller portion than I would have eaten this time last year).

Last week we tried a new version of Bucatini All'Amatriciana - this one by Canadian Food Network star David Rocco.  Rocco has a show on the food network called Dolce Vita where he travels around Italy, visiting relatives, and cooking up amazing food. Not unlike what Jamie Oliver did but Rocco was there first!

Bucatini all'Amatrician is one of our favourite pastas. This zesty pancetta and tomato sauce is commonly associated with Lazio and Rome, but is actually from the town of Amatrice, which was just over the border into the Abruzzo before Mussolini redrew the maps.

This is a delicious hearty pasta. The dish is full of delicious chunks of pancetta - the rendered oil from the pancetta also flavours the entire dish. because if this you want to use the best pancetta you can purchase. If you have access to guanciale, cured Italian pork jowl, grab it and use it instead. I've looked for guanciale for years and NEVER seen it. A fine pancetta works as well . . although we had the real thing when we were in Italy. WOW

Enjoy!

Bucatini All'Amatriciana

• 1 pound bucatini or thick stranded spaghetti
• 3 tb olive oil
• 6 oz pancetta or guanciale, diced
• 1 can (19 fl oz) plum tomatoes, crushed
• 1 small onion, finely chopped
• 1 clove garlic, finely chopped
• chili pepper f lakes (to taste)
• salt and pepper to taste
• An abundance (a cup) of freshly grated Pecorino Romano

Set the pasta water to heat, salt it when it boils, and cook the pasta.

 

While this is happening, heat the oil in a skillet, add the diced meat, and cook until it browns, stirring the pieces as they cook. Add the onion garlic, and chili pepper flakes and saute until the onions soften. Turn down the heat to medium-high, add the tomatoes with a bit of salt and pepper and cook for an additional 5 minutes.

 

Reserve 1 cup of the pasta water. Drain the pasta while it's still a little al dente. Turn the drained pasta into the skillet with the sauce, cook a minute more more, stirring the pasta to coat the strands. Add water as necessary to bind the sauce to the pasta. Add the grated pecorino cheese, mix it together and serve.

Notes:

As I mentioned, Italians traditionally make Amatriciana sauce with Guanciale,salt-cured pork jowl. It is similar to flat pancetta, but not as lean, and therefore has a richer, more voluptuous feel to it. If you can find guanciale, by all means use it, though in its absence pancetta will work. Bacon is not a good substitute, because it is smoked and also contains sugar not present in either pancetta or guanciale.

Amatriciana sauce derives from a much older sauce called La Gricia which the shepherds used to make by sautéing diced guanciale so gently as to keep it from browning, and adding freshly boiled pasta, a healthy dusting of pepper, and grated pecorino Romano. The Amatriciana sauce, with tomatoes, was initially enjoyed by the nobility, because only they could afford tomatoes.

The people of Amatrice prefer to use spaghetti in preparing their signature dish. The use of bucatini is more a Roman thing. The different shapes do produce different textures, and which you prefer is up to you.

Comments

[Kayte]

Loved the little tips and notes you added at the end. This looks delicious. I am just starting to learn to cook Italian food from Marcella Hazan's Essentials of Classic Italian Cooking. Really enjoying it and so far all the recipes are so wonderful...and best yet, wonderfully easy with her instructions! Your pasta looks delicious.

[JDeQ]

Thanks kayte - what isn't to love with this dish - crisp, salty pancetta, cheese, pasta, tomatoes . . .mmmmmmmm You've been doing some greta stuff on your blog too - Hazan is one of my favourite guides for Italian foods.

[María I.]

This is my son's favorite pasta dish! ;)

[JDeQ]

Your son has great taste obviously Maria!