TABELIAAUTHENTIC RECIPE
Spaghetti all'AmatricianaSpaghetti all’Amatriciana
A Roman pasta classic made with guanciale, tomatoes and Pecorino, originating in Amatrice and taking root in Rome.
AUTHENTICITY SCORE
Authenticity Score
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Ingredients (2 servings)
- GuancialeCut into 5 mm dice.120 g
- Canned peeled tomatoes400 g
- Spaghetti200 g
- Pecorino RomanoCoarsely grate.40 g
- Dried chili pepper1 piece
- Dry white wine50 ml
Method
Prepare the ingredients
- 1 Cut 120 g guanciale into 5 mm dice.
- 2 Coarsely grate 40 g Pecorino.
Render the guanciale
- 1 Put 120 g guanciale in 5 mm dice in a frying pan and cook over medium heat.
- 2 When fat begins rendering, add 1 dried chili.
Ready when
After about 5 minutes, continue when the guanciale is crisp with golden edges.
Reduce the tomato sauce
- 1 MeanwhileWhile reducing the sauce, start boiling a large pot of water, with 10 g salt per 1 L.
- 2 Add 50 ml white wine and boil for about 1 minute to evaporate the alcohol.
- 3 Add 400 g canned whole tomatoes, crushing by hand, and reduce over medium heat.
Ready when
After about 15 minutes, continue when thickened and a wooden spoon briefly leaves a trail across the pan bottom.
Cook the pasta
- 1 Add 200 g spaghetti to the prepared boiling salted water and cook 1 minute less than the package time.
- 2 Reserve 100 ml cooking water.
Ready when
Remove just before al dente, with a slight core remaining.
Combine pasta and sauce
- 1 Add the cooked spaghetti to the sauce in the frying pan.
- 2 Toss over high heat for 1–2 minutes, adding cooking water little by little.
Ready when
Continue when the sauce clings and the surface is glossy.
Add Pecorino
- 1 Turn off the heat and generously scatter over 40 g Pecorino.
Caution
Do not return to high heat after adding cheese: it sets and makes the sauce heavy.
About this dish
About 100 kilometers northeast of Rome, in the Apennine foothills, lies the small town of Amatrice. This pasta originated with shepherds traveling across the mountains toward Rome, using long-keeping guanciale, cured pork cheek, and Pecorino.
Tomatoes were added to Amatrice’s gricia, its tomato-free predecessor, in the late 18th century, when tomatoes from South America were beginning to enter Roman cooking. Today it is one of Rome’s four great pastas and appears on Italian restaurant menus worldwide.
Slowly rendering guanciale fat, combining it with tomato acidity and finishing with the saltiness of Pecorino Romano forms amatriciana’s basic structure.
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