BUCATINI ALL'AMATRICIANA

Did you know that the name Amatriciana comes from a small village in Lazio, 1 hour from Rome, called Amatrice?
An ancient village built on the rock in 1200.
Unfortunately, a strong earthquake in 2016 destroyed it.

But the people of Amatrice have done everything they can to rebuild it and especially to keep traditions alive, such as the production of guanciale and pecorino cheese, the basic ingredients of pasta all'amatriciana.

A unique delicacy that originated in Amatrice as the shepherds' main meal. Originally without tomato, it was called Gricia, only later, when it was imported from America in the 1400s, was it added to the recipe and was thus called 'Amatriciana'.

Over time, it has become a true cornerstone of Italian gastronomy just like Carbonara and Cacio e pepe; since 2020, this Italian excellence has been officially recognised by the EU as a 'Traditional Speciality Guaranteed' (Stg) against possible imitations and fakes.

The traditional recipe only admits
Guanciale Amatriciano
Pecorino Amatriciano or Roman dop cheese
Pureed or peeled tomatoes

The use of ingredients such as onion, garlic and bacon is forbidden, while the use of chilli pepper and pepper is allowed.

Quantity for 4 persons
320 gr of bucatini or spaghetti
150 g guanciale (1 cm thick slice to be cut into strips)
400 gr peeled tomatoes
80 gr pecorino romano cheese
1/2 cup dry white wine
1 fresh chilli pepper
extra virgin olive oil
salt

How to make Bucatini all'amatriciana
First of all put the guanciale cut into strips (small equal rectangles not too thin) in a frying pan together with a small piece of chilli pepper.

Heat over a high flame (without adding oil) until they are browned, crispy and golden but not burnt and have released all their oil.
Then drain the pieces of guanciale by patting them dry with a kitchen towel and set them aside. In the meantime, in the pan with the fat left by the guanciale, add the chilli pepper:
Finally add 2 more tablespoons of oil to the pan, let it heat up, deglaze with white wine, when it has completely evaporated, add the peeled tomatoes cut into small pieces (here too, make a fine pulp of equal-sized pieces).

Then cook on a moderate flame for about 15 - 18 minutes. Finally correct the salt

In the meantime, season the pasta water with salt.

Then grate the pecorino cheese separately

Finally cook the pasta for about 4 minutes (it only has to soften)

Then take it out of the pot (without throwing away the cooking water) and place it directly into the sauce pan with

3 - 4 tablespoons of cooking water:

Let the pasta in the pan finish cooking the bucatini, if necessary add more pasta cooking water to make them creamy.

At the end of the cooking time, add the grated pecorino cheese, stir over a low heat to mix everything together, add the crispy guanciale, mix everything together.

If you have leftover you can reheat it for the next day with 1 tablespoon of oil or make a tasty pasta omelette!

kg/cal per portion 241