Bucatini all’Amatriciana
Regional Wine Pairings: Damiano Ciolli Cesanese d’Olevano, Maria Ernesta Berucci Cesanese del Piglio, or Carpineti Tufaliccio
Bucatini all'Amatriciana is named for the small town and commune of Amatrice in the province of Rieto, 90mi northeast of Rome, hovering between the confines of the regions of Lazio, Umbria, Le Marche, and the Abruzzo. Like many pasta dishes of this area, Amatriciana was a sheep herder’s meal made with pasta, guanciale, and sheep’s milk cheese. The introduction of tomato and chili flakes apparently came in the 1700s.
Italians are staunch traditionalists and truthfully, if an Amatrice resident saw that I included garlic and onion in this recipe, they would ban me from entering the town.
Bucatini is a long and hollow pasta, made to catch the pasta sauce inside of the noodle. According to the City Council of Amatrice it is the ONLY pasta shape you can use, but other hollow noodle shapes such as Rigatoni, Cavatelli, and Penne work well too.
Equipment
Boiling pot for pasta · Cast iron or large saute pan · Med size saute pan · Pasta strainer ·Measuring cups ·Measuring spoons · Saucepan · Cutting Board · Knife
Serves 2+ (2 full servings with a small portion left over)
Ingredients
*1/2c+ a little extra Salsa Pronta (I like my pasta saucey)
200g Bucatini Pasta
130g guanciale
¾ c Pecorino Romano (grated) (½ c to mix in the pasta + ¼ c extra for garnish)
½ red onion
1 tsp olive oil
¼ tsp chili flake (or more according to taste. There is also a touch of chili flake in the salsa pronta)
*Salsa Pronta–”ready sauce”
Great on pizza too!
28-oz can crushed or whole peeled tomatoes–San Marzano tomatoes are preferable
1/4c tomato paste
2 garlic cloves, chopped (or whole if you plan to use an immersion blender, see below)
2T olive oil
Optional: ~.¼ tsp crushed red pepper flake, for a tiny kick
•In a heavy bottom saucepan, heat the garlic and olive oil over LOW heat (you want to ‘roast’ the garlic). Once garlic starts to simmer, cook it for a couple more minutes, then add the can of tomatoes and the paste.
•Add the tomato paste and chili flake, let sauce reduce for 25 min on medium heat.
•If you used whole tomatoes, give the sauce a buzz with a hand held blender. You can also use a food processor, but if you do let the sauce cool to warm first.
I’ve started to omit the salt in the Salsa Pronta for recipes like this Amatriciana here- the guanciale and pecorino already have a lot of salt, so no need for the sauce to also be salted, especially if your pasta water is salted. If you make a stockpile of this tomato sauce for things like pizza and eggplant parmigiana, you may want to consider adding some to taste.
Allora, per la pasta…
Get a pot of 4 quarts of water on the stove top and crank it up for a boil. Add ~1.5 T salt (fine mediterranean sea salt or kosher salt flakes, DO NOT USE iodized salt)
Set up your salsa pronta in a saucepan on the stove top
Peel the onion and halve it. Then, take the half and slice it in half again. Take each of those halves and slice them into about 1in chunks, then break apart each onion layer so you’re left with onion pieces roughly 1in x 1-1.5in
Slice the guanciale into similar sized pieces as the onion, about 1/8in thick
Place each piece of guanciale on the cast iron or saute pan side by side. If you have enough room to add the onion so each onion piece also has their own little space in the pan, you can add it in
If not, as will most likely be the case, in a separate saute pan, place the onion pieces side by side with 1 tsp olive oil.
Once the pasta water is boiling, add the pasta in and start a stopwatch/timer to keep on top of the recommended cook time written on the pasta packaging.
Turn on the salsa pronta saucepan to medium-low and add in the ¼ tsp chili flake should you choose to use it
Once pasta is in the water, turn the heat to high on the guanciale. Once it starts to sizzle, turn the heat down to medium.
Turn the heat to medium on the onion.
Flip the guanciale over one by one, so you get a nice even crisp on each piece.
Turn the onion over one by one as well for the same effect.
Once the guanciale starts to finish cooking, the pasta should almost be done (~9min) Taste test.
Depending on timing, you may have to turn the guanciale and onion pans off while the pasta finishes cooking
When the pasta is done, strain it and put back in the pasta pot
Add the salsa pronta + the guanciale and onion. Use a spatula to scrape in all of the guanciale pieces including the rendered fat- it all goes in!
Throw in the ½ c cheese and stir the pasta until all is coated with sauce.
Plate and garnish with a little extra grated cheese
