Pasta all'Amatriciana
Roman pasta classic with crisp-fried guanciale, San Marzano tomatoes and chili, bound with pecorino — traditionally without garlic or onion.
While the pasta water comes to a boil, the guanciale's fat is slowly rendered out, and the tomatoes simmer down to a concentrated, fat-marbled sauce. The bucatini is finished in the pan with pasta water before the pecorino is stirred in off the heat. The crucial detail is bringing the sauce together glossy without letting the cheese break.
Ingredients
- 500 g bucatini
- 150 g guanciale, in one piece
- 400 g peeled San Marzano tomatoes
- 80 g pecorino romano, freshly grated
- ½ dl dry white wine
- 1 tbsp olive oil
- 1 pcs dried chili, crumbled
- salt
- black pepper, freshly ground
How to make it
- Fill a large pot with 4-5 liters of water and set it over high heat. Let it come to a full, rolling boil while you prepare the guanciale. ⏱ 10 min · passive
- Trim the rind off the guanciale and cut the meat into strips about 1 cm wide and half a centimeter thick. Each strip should have both fat and meat on it, since the fat is what becomes the flavor of the sauce.Chef's tip Cutting through both fat and lean gives strips that render to a crisp shell around a chewy core. Cut too thin and they render away entirely, leaving fat but no bite in the finished plate.
- Heat the olive oil in a large, heavy skillet over medium heat and add the strips in a single layer. Cook for 6-8 minutes, stirring occasionally, until the fat has rendered clear and the edges are golden and crisp. Keep the heat moderate, since guanciale burns quickly and turns bitter.
- Pour the white wine into the hot pan and scrape up the browned bits from the bottom with a wooden spoon. Let the wine reduce for 2 minutes, until the sharp alcohol smell is gone and only a glossy film of liquid remains around the strips.
- Lift the guanciale strips out with a slotted spoon and set them on a plate. Leave all the rendered fat behind in the pan, so the strips stay crisp until they go back in.
- Crush the peeled tomatoes coarsely with your hands into the hot fat and stir in the crumbled chili. Let the sauce simmer over medium-low heat for 12 minutes, stirring occasionally, until it is deep red and the orange fat begins to separate out along the edge. Season with freshly ground pepper and just a pinch of salt, since the guanciale has already salted the fat. ⏱ 10 min
- Salt the boiling water well, but a little more lightly than usual, since the guanciale and pecorino will season the dish heavily. Cook the bucatini for 10 minutes until al dente, so they still have bite in the center. Reserve 1 dl of the cooking water before draining. ⏱ 10 min · passiveChef's tip Pull the bucatini a minute before the box says; they finish in the pan and keep cooking there. The reserved water is starchy and salted — plain hot water thins the sauce instead of binding it.
- Pour the drained bucatini straight into the pan along with the crisp guanciale strips. Toss everything over medium heat for 2 minutes, adding a little of the reserved pasta water at a time, until the sauce clings glossy to each strand without pooling at the bottom.Chef's tip Tossing hard against the pan is what marries fat, tomato and starch water into one clinging sauce — gentle stirring leaves them separate. Add water a splash at a time; you can always thin, never un-thin.
- Take the pan off the heat and fold in two-thirds of the freshly grated pecorino. Stir quickly for 1 minute, until the cheese has melted into the sauce and made it thicker and creamier. The pecorino must not boil, or it will turn stringy and break.
- Divide the bucatini among four deep plates and twirl the strands together with a fork, so they sit gathered together with guanciale and sauce on top. Set the remaining pecorino on the table in a small bowl, and let everyone sprinkle on more pecorino and grind black pepper to taste.
