The Amatriciana is a pasta sauce typical of the town of Amatrice in Lazio. Prepared with tomato, guanciale, pepper, pecorino, and white wine, it is a combination of intense flavors that perfectly match with pasta. A sauce that does not require long cooking, it should not reduce too much: about 30 minutes total are more than enough.
Pasta Amatriciana thus becomes a great dish that we can prepare at the last minute for unexpected guests or simply to enjoy a uniquely flavored dish even after a long day of work.
To prepare an excellent pasta Amatriciana, quality ingredients are important, so I suggest using excellent guanciale and real Pecorino Romano.
We can use different types of pasta to dress with this sauce, and traditionally spaghetti or bucatini are used, but from personal experience, I recommend trying mezze maniche, which can embrace the sauce inside them.
In reality, Amatriciana is increasingly used not only to dress pasta in many creative recipes. It can be used on crispy bruschette, as a topping for pizza, as a filling for sandwiches, and can be used instead of sauces to season meat. You can get creative to find new combinations.
For lovers of first courses, I also suggest other recipes such as
- Difficulty: Easy
- Cost: Economical
- Preparation time: 5 Minutes
- Portions: 2/3 servings
- Cooking methods: Stovetop
- Cuisine: Italian
- Energy 517.16 (Kcal)
- Carbohydrates 33.12 (g) of which sugars 0.43 (g)
- Proteins 12.41 (g)
- Fat 35.52 (g) of which saturated 13.68 (g)of which unsaturated 17.68 (g)
- Fibers 3.40 (g)
- Sodium 1,768.30 (mg)
Indicative values for a portion of 276 g processed in an automated way starting from the nutritional information available on the CREA* and FoodData Central** databases. It is not food and / or nutritional advice.
* CREATES Food and Nutrition Research Center: https://www.crea.gov.it/alimenti-e-nutrizione https://www.alimentinutrizione.it ** U.S. Department of Agriculture, Agricultural Research Service. FoodData Central, 2019. https://fdc.nal.usda.gov
Ingredients
- 8 oz pasta (I used mezze maniche)
- 4.4 oz guanciale
- 1/2 cup white wine
- to taste coarse salt
- 1 1/2 liter water (for cooking the pasta)
- to taste pepper (or chili pepper if preferred)
- 14.1 oz tomato pulp
- 1.8 oz Pecorino Romano (grated)
Tools
- 1 Pot
- 1 Pan
- 2 Lids
- 1 Cutting Board
- 1 Knife
Steps
Clean the guanciale from the rind and cut it into strips. Heat the pan well and without adding any other fats, sauté the guanciale over high heat but not too high with a bit of pepper. When the guanciale is well browned on all sides, remove some crispy pieces to use as decoration on the plate. In the pan, still on the heat, pour in the half glass of white wine and let it evaporate over high heat.
The wine should not completely reduce. When it has evaporated a little, add the tomato pulp, adjust with salt, and let it cook over moderate heat for about 20 minutes or until cooked. While preparing the sauce, put a high-edged pot on the stove with water and a bit of coarse salt, this will be used to cook the pasta.
When the water boils, cook the pasta in it for the minutes indicated on the package for al dente cooking. Drain the pasta and pour it into the pan with the sauce, which you have put back on the heat, add some of the Pecorino, and toss the pasta lightly. After about a minute, turn off the heat and serve. I recommend serving the dish with the crispy guanciale bits you set aside and another sprinkle of grated Pecorino.
NOTES
Pasta Amatriciana is truly a dish recognized worldwide. With few ingredients, you get a wonderful first course that I recommend consuming as soon as it is prepared.
Try the Amatriciana sauce also to create excellent appetizers and snacks.
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