The Amatriciana is a famous and delicious sauce for pasta that took its name from Amatrice, a little town in central Italy. There are different ways to cook it, but I will teach you the recipe as my Zia Adriana from Rome taught me.
The main ingredients for this sauce are bacon, pecorino cheese, and tomato. If you want to eat the real Spaghetti all’Amatriciana, you'll need to find some “guanciale”, an unsmoked Italian bacon prepared with pig's jowl or cheeks. Its name is derived from guancia, Italian for cheek. It is the essential ingredient for this recipe and its flavor is far superior and stronger than the flavor of pancetta (bacon), and its texture is more delicate. However since it's not easy to find this ingredient outside of Italy, we will use pancetta (bacon) for this recipe.
Remember, if you don’t find an ingredient, then be practical.. find something similar to it ; it will work out and you never know if maybe you are creating a completely new dish at your kitchen!
The ingredients are:
- 1/2 lb of spaghetti
- 150 g of bacon (diced)
- 1 tbsp of A&A Olio Santo
- 1/2 white onion diced
- 8 oz can San Marzano Tomatoes (crushed)
- 2 oz fresh grated Pecorino Cheese
- Salt
Grease the pan with a tablespoon of A&A Olio Santo (red hot pepper infused extra virgin olive oil). Add the onion and fry it, then add the bacon. Before the bacon begins golden and crisp, add the diced tomatoes and simmer at a medium heat. Adjust salt to your taste. Stir from time to time for at least 30 minutes. The sauce is ready when the oil passes over the tomatoes.
Boil the pasta al dente and drain. Place in a bowl, add the grated pecorino and the sauce. Blend well. Garnish with more pecorino cheese if you like.The more you cook the sauce the more flavorful it gets!
BUON APPETITO!!!