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One of the most popular Italian pasta dishes. Its name comes from the town of Amatrice, famous for its pork. There are several varieties of this dish, but I assume that this one is quite close to the original. Guanciale (cheek) should be used, but pancetta is a good substitute. Those of you who are lucky to have excellent fresh tomatoes will use one kilo of them instead of 2 cans. In that case you might want to increase the tomato purée and sugar a little.


Ingredients, 4 servings

500 g spaghetti
250 g guanciale (or pancetta), home-cured of course .
1 tbsp olive oil
30 g butter
1 onion, finely chopped
1 large garlic clove, finely sliced
1 good pinch of red hot chilli flakes
2 cans plum tomatoes (best quality!)
1 tbsp tomato purée
1 bay leaf
½ tsp sugar
A few basil leaves
Salt, black pepper
Parmesan or Pecorino cheese, grated


Method:

Slice the guanciale, remove the rind (but not the fat!) and cut in strips.



Sautée the meat slowly in half of the butter and the olive oil. It will give off a lot of fat, which can be removed later.



When the meat is brown and almost crisp, add onion, garlic and chili and sautée until the onion is soft.



Add tomatoes with their liquid, tomato purée, sugar, bay leaf and a little salt.



Bring to a boil, reduce heat and simmer for 30 minutes, covered. Mash the tomatoes. Remove the bay leaf. Ladle off excess fat, if desired, and set aside.



Boil the pasta. Reheat the sauce and add basil and black pepper. Adjust the seasoning.



Strain the pasta when it is molto al dente (1-2 minutes before ready). Mix with the rest of the butter and the sauce in the kettle or the saucepan. Stir for a few minutes on medium heat. Serve immediately with the cheese.

Look delicious Andre, and couldn't have come at a better time! I have a glut of tomatoes from the garden and I'm running gout of ideas for them! Can't quite stretch to the home cured meat yet (still working on that one) but home grown tomatoes are a good compromise!!!

Thanks! You can use salted belly (streaky) bacon as well, but it must be unsmoked.

I bought some guanciale for my brother for Christmas so he could make this dish. Which he duly did. I can only say that honestly pancetta and other cured meats are a pale imitation. So head off (pun intentional) to your nearest pork butcher and get him to give you a pig's head so you can make the real thing. Come one lads and lassies, it can't be THAT hard to do. Once cured and dry it should keep for months.

Hi Andre',
I would like to make a few minor corrections to your substantially correct recipe, if I may.
Typically, amatriciana is sparsely dressed with tomatoes, and rarely will you see much tomato puree: it's definitely not saucy. Bay leaf is a variation on the original. There is no butter: the guanciale provides the fat. The use of sugar, as you properly pointed out, is debatable and it depends on the quality of the tomatoes. Also, a hollow pasta is normally used.
Regards
Massimo

Remarks noted. I appreciate it, Massimo. Thanks a lot!

Cheers Andre.

I've made this a few times now, it's delicious! Quick and easy, ideal lunch/supper dish.

John.

Looks very good. Thanks for sharing.

Thank you, both!

I will try Massimo's variation (above) next time.