Amatriciana Recipe: A Taste of Rome with Homemade Tomato Sauce
I’m excited to share this recipe for Amatriciana pasta, which I learned from a cooking class I took while travelling through Rome, Italy. Amatriciana pasta is a classic Roman dish made with just 4 ingredients. It is the perfect dish to use up my homemade tomato sauce (find the recipe HERE), which I make from tomatoes harvested from my garden.
Get a free printable recipe card for this recipe HERE.
Check out the video version of this recipe on my YouTube channel:
Ingredients
One of the best things about Amatriciana is its simplicity. You’ll only need four key ingredients:
1. 64 ounces total of tomato Sauce: I'm using my homemade tomato sauce but you can also use store-bought cans of crushed or whole tomatoes (you’ll need to crush yourself).
2. Container of finely grated Pecorino Romano cheese: It's essential to use Pecorino Romano instead of Parmesan. Pecorino Romano is a hard, salty Italian cheese made from sheep's milk. It has a distinctive, sharp, and tangy flavor, and is often used grated over pasta dishes, soups, and salads, similar to Parmesan cheese. This cheese is one of Italy's oldest and most famous cheeses, with production methods dating back to ancient Roman times. Pecorino Romano is typically aged for at least five months, which contributes to its firm texture and strong taste.
3.One 1-lb box of pasta: Any pasta you like will do, but thicker spaghetti noodles like bucatini are my favorite for this dish.
4. Half a pound of guanciale: This is a type of Italian cured meat made from pork jowl or cheeks. The name "guanciale" comes from the Italian word "guancia," which means cheek. This delicacy is known for its rich, intense flavor and smooth texture, owing to the high-fat content in the pork jowl. Guanciale is seasoned with salt, pepper, and sometimes additional spices and herbs, then left to cure for several weeks. It is a key ingredient in several classic Italian dishes, including pasta alla carbonara and pasta all'amatriciana, where its unique taste and texture add depth and richness to the recipes. Unlike pancetta or bacon, guanciale has a distinctive, robust flavor that makes it a favorite among chefs and food enthusiasts. If you can't find it, thick-cut bacon is an acceptable substitute.
Directions
1. Prepare and cook the guanciale. Slice the guanciale into long strips about half an inch thick. Then cut those strips into smaller pieces, also about half an inch thick. Heat a large pan over medium-high heat and add the guanciale. Fry it until it’s crispy on all sides, stirring every couple of minutes to ensure even browning. Once done, remove the guanciale along with its rendered fat/oil from the pan and set it aside.
2.Cook the pasta. Bring a large pot of water to a boil. Salt it generously. Cook the pasta to al dente. My Roman cooking class instructor said to cook 1 minute less than what the package directions suggest. Drain the pasta when done and save some pasta water which will be used to make the sauce.
3. Make the sauce. Heat the pan used to fry the guanciale on medium-low heat. Add 3 TBS of the reserved guanciale fat/oil. Then pour in your homemade tomato sauce or crushed tomatoes. If using whole tomatoes, mash with a potato masher to make into a sauce.
4. Add the fried guanciale pieces (fat/oil drained out), back into the pan with the tomato sauce, and let it all simmer on low heat for 10 minutes.
5. Add 2 cups of pasta water to the tomato sauce and stir. Taste the sauce to assess the salt level. Add enough Pecorino Romano cheese until the sauce has enough saltiness as per your preference. Then add the cooked pasta. Stir everything until the pasta is evenly coated with sauce.
Plate your pasta and garnish with some sliced sweet basil leaves and more Pecorino Romano cheese.
For those interested in learning how to grow tomatoes, check out my tomato playlist on my YouTube channel here: https://tinyurl.com/k4339eaw
If you want to grow the same tomatoes I use in my recipes, you can find seeds on my website.