When in Rome, if there is any dish you should try, it should be the bucatini all’amatriciana. This classic Italian dish is popular in the central Italian region of Lazio. All it takes are about 6 simple ingredients. Resulting in a vibrant and flavourful meal.
Ingredients:
- Pasta – Typically spaghetti or bucatini, but any other pasta can be used especially long-stranded pasta.
- Guanciale – It is like a rule of thumb with many Italian pasta dishes to use guanciale over pancetta or regular bacon
- Peeled tomatoes – Peeled fresh tomatoes or a tin of already peeled tomatoes work just fine.
- Pecorino Romano – This is a Roman recipe after all and this sheep derived Roman cheese is the go-to.
- Chilli – Usually the whole chilli would be cooked in the sauce, after which it would be removed from the sauce before adding the pasta. However I really love spice and don’t like waste, so I chopped the chilis and left them in for this recipe. Tweak according to your preference.
- Wine – Not just for cooking the Bucatini all’amatriciana but to also serve with it.
The Romans pride themselves on making the best Amatriciana sauce. If I can say so myself, I’d say this recipe holds up to the Roman standard. It’s vibrant, creamy, flavourful and does more than just check all the boxes. It’s like a delicious union on a plate! Even if the Romans should not approve, I bet your tastebuds would. Like I’ve said, the sauce can be used with any other pasta. I choose the Bucatini all’amatriciana because it is the classic method. Also, the bucatini pasta is from Lazio that is on my list of ‘10 different kinds of pasta from various regions in Italy‘.
Bucatini all’amatriciana
Ingredients
- 300 g Bucatini
- 400 g can of peeled tomatoes
- 200 g Guanciale (chopped)
- 1 Red chilli (chopped)
- 50 g Pecorino cheese (grated)
- 1 tbsp Olive oil
- 50 g Dry white wine
Instructions
- Place a large pot of water over medium-high heat, add salt and bring to a boil. In the meantime start cooking the sauce.
- Place a pan over medium heat, toss in the chopped guanciale and cook until brown.
- Pour in the white wine and cook until it evaporates. Remove the bacon and set it aside for later.
- Pour olive oil into the same pan, toss in the chopped chillis and cook for 1 minute, then pour in the tin of peeled tomatoes. Mix and break the whole tomatoes apart with a spoon, then reduce the heat and allow to simmer while you cook the pasta.
- Place the bucatini pasta into the pot of boiling salted water and cook for 8 minutes. Once cooked, drain and transfer the pasta into the saucepan. Also, throw in the bacon and pecorino cheese. Toss together and serve hot.
