I'm not Roman, and to Italians - I am also not Italian ( they told me that)... So, I am not going to tell YOU how to make Amatriciana, because if you want that - Go to Rome, everything is truly fabulous there...but let us think of it as an Amatriciana seed I am placing in your head, and you can go from there. Do whatever you want, this is an open and supportive Amatriciana community, and I am not the head of state. We are all about freedom and flexibility here, as you probably? maybe? have gathered if ANYONE OF YOU has made one of my recipes?... I don't know! If you have, Let me know. If you make Amatriciana, Let me know!
Its tomatoe-y, while not being a sauce but sauce-y enough to evenly coat your pasta of choice and leave leftovers for scarpetta. Its not to be confused with your grandfathers Sunday sauce- Its not supposed to stew. Its quick, its easy and it also serves as a great dish to serve more than just you, but go ahead, also consider making it for just you and eat it all!
Amatriciana is one of the 4 Roman pastas along with Carbonara, Cacio e Pepe, and alla Gricia, It is the only one of the 4 to be tomato based. You will be using a whole can of whole peeled tomatoes, You can hand crush or just kind of SPLAT in the pan, which is usually how I maneuver things. Like Carbonara and Alla Gricia - It shares the ingredient of Guanciale, which is cured pork jowl. . You can find it at a butcher shop, or request it if its not on hand and plan ahead. If you are reading this and thinking how you will never go through the effort to go to the butcher then... you could use pancetta, and that's easily found in the fancy cheese section of your grocer store.The pork can be large chunks of crisped pork or thinly sliced, that's a you decision, I am not versed enough in Amatrciana to tell you how to do it, but here is what I can offer...
Ingredients
2 tablespoons olive oil, plus more for drizzling
1/4 pound Guanciale OR Pancetta
1 small red onion, thinly sliced
Freshly ground pepper
crushed red pepper
one whole can of peeled plum tomatoes
kosher salt
1lb ( serves 4) of rigatoni or bucatini ( I would use one of these)
2 cloves garlic peeled and thinly sliced
pecorino romano for grating on top
Bring a large pot of water to boil. On medium heat, heat one tablespoon of the olive oil in a medium sauce pan and add in your pork, guanciale or pancetta- cooking until lightly browned and fat has rendered ( 10-15 minutes)
Increase the heat to medium-high, add in the red onions, cooking until kind of fried/frizzled and also jammy? 5-8 minutes. Add in your crush red pepper flakes and let them also frizzle in the oil with onions. Reduce heat to medium and add in garlic, let the garlic work itself into the oil, onions, and pepper ( 2 minutes) stirring. Add in your whole can of tomatoes and crush with your utensil, or with your hands( before of course)... until mostly broken and kind of sauce like. Season with salt and pepper. cook stirring every so often and let thicken ( 20 minutes).
Remove sauce from heat while you cook pasta, salt your boiling water and add in pasta of choice letting it cook until just before al dente, reserve a mug of pasta water before draining pasta!!
Place sauce back on a low heat, add in your pasta and your reserved pasta water, start with a 1/3 of a cup and then add as you go ( the pasta water helps emulsify the sauce and gloss it over). Stirring and tossing your pasta to evenly coat it in all the yumminess. add in your extra tablespoon of olive oil, salt and pepper to taste, continue to toss.
To serve, grate some fresh pecorino, scrunch of some pepper and a little drizzle of olive oil. scrape up all the left over with a nice price of craggly bread!
p.s
net week won't be pasta but, enjoy otherwise!
Comments