Grandma’s Amatriciana sauce recipe for a condiment as famous as Puttanesca sauce. The original recipe of one of the most well-known Italian sauces in the world: easy, quick and delicious. Pasta dishes like spaghetti alla carbonara, pasta alla Norma and pasta all’amatriciana: how can you say no to a good plate of Italian pasta? Today we’re making the famous sauce with guanciale from Amatrice, the perfect Amatriciana sauce to dress a generous portion of pasta: ready to head to the kitchen? Let’s go — but first, as always, if you want to stay updated on all my other recipes you can follow my Facebook page and my Instagram profile and find many more in my book “La Sicilia è in tavola”.
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- Difficulty: Very easy
- Cost: Budget-friendly
- Preparation time: 10 Minutes
- Portions: 5 servings
- Cooking methods: Stovetop
- Cuisine: Italian
- Seasonality: All seasons
Ingredients
- 7 oz guanciale (from Amatrice)
- 14 oz peeled tomatoes
- 1/3 cup white wine (about 70 ml)
- 3.5 oz onion (about 3/4 cup chopped (approximately 100 g))
- to taste salt
- to taste hot chili pepper
Tools
- Frying pan
Preparation
To prepare spaghetti all’amatriciana, start boiling the water for the pasta and add salt shortly before it reaches a rolling boil. To make the Amatriciana sauce, remove the rind from the guanciale and cut it into slices about 3/8 inch thick, then cut those into strips (and into cubes if you prefer).
Let it brown over low heat for 7-8 minutes in a heavy-bottomed pan so the fat gradually melts and becomes translucent and the meat turns crispy and golden. Stir frequently to avoid burning, then deglaze with the white wine and let it evaporate over high heat. Remove the guanciale with a slotted spoon and set it aside.
In the same pan with the cooking fat from the guanciale, add the whole chili pepper (seeded) and let the chopped onion soften. Once the onion is golden, add the peeled tomatoes, crushing them with a fork. Cook over medium heat for 15 minutes and adjust salt if needed.
Remove the chili from the sauce and add the guanciale back in, cook for another minute while stirring well, then turn off the heat. The sauce is ready to dress the pasta — remember to finish with a sprinkle of Pecorino Romano or Pecorino di Amatrice.
Storage and tips
The sauce keeps in the refrigerator for 3-4 days if stored in an airtight container.
Many people make pasta all’amatriciana without onion; I prefer the version with onion because it is a bit sweeter, but I assure you the variant without onion is also delicious.
