Bucatini All’Amatriciana 1 Comment

Jan 18, 2010

What is Bucatini All’Amatriciana? That was the question posed by a few of my friends when I posted on Facebook that I was making Bucatini All’Amatriciana for dinner.

To break it down: bucatini is a type of pasta that is slightly fatter than spaghetti with a hole through each pasta strand; sauce clings to bucatani much better than spaghetti. This pasta dish is named after the tiny town of Amatrice located 100 miles east of Lazio from Abruzzo—All’Amatriciana. To sum it up, it’s a pasta dish from a region in Italy. Easy right?

The journey begins with a soft and slow rendering of guanicale or cured pork jowl. Guanicale is distinct in flavor; both salty and mellow with hints of caramel. Once the flavors are released two large onions, a heaping teaspoon of red pepper flakes, salt and sweet San Marzano tomatoes join the rendered and bubbling guanciale in the sauté pan for an hour to thicken and to get to know one another. Parmigiano-Reggiano and extra virgin olive oil are added to give the pasta its final touches.

The result is a deep, comforting and flavor packed pasta dish that every Italian grandmother would be proud to serve.

Ingredients

–	Extra-virgin olive oil
8	ounces guanciale, cut in ¼-inch strips
2	large onions, cut in ½-inch dice
1	teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes
–	Kosher salt
2	(28-ounce) cans San Marzano tomatoes, passed through the food mill
1	pound bucatini or perciatelli
½	cup grated Parmigiano-Reggiano, plus extra for garnish

Serves

4-6

Prep Time

30 minutes

Cook Time

1 hour and 50 minutes

Directions

Coat a large saucepan with olive oil. Add the guanciale and sauté over low heat. Cook until it is brown and crispy and has rendered a lot of fat – about 25 minutes. Remove and reserve ⅓ of guanciale for garnish. Bring the pan to a medium heat and add the onions and crushed red pepper. Season generously with salt, to taste. Cook the onions until they are translucent, starting to turn golden and are very aromatic – about 15 minutes.

Add the tomatoes and bring to a boil, then reduce the heat and simmer the sauce for about 1 hour, tasting periodically. Adjust the salt, as needed. Bring a large pot of well salted water to a boil over high heat. Add the pasta and cook for 1 minute less than the instructions on the package. Remove 3 or 4 ladlefuls of the sauce from the pot to a bowl, as an insurance policy. You can always add it back in but it’s harder to take out once the pasta is in the pan. You’re looking for the perfect ratio between pasta and sauce. Drain the pasta from the water and add to the pot of sauce. Stir to coat with the sauce. This is how you always finish pasta; you cook it in the sauce to perform the marriage of the pasta and the sauce. Add more sauce, if necessary. Add in the cheese and drizzle with olive oil to really bring the marriage together. Toss to coat and serve in shallow bowls garnished with cheese and the reserved guanciale.