Spaghetti all'amatriciana
A simple five ingredient pasta that proves less is more
Servings: 2 hungry people. Or 4 people as a primi pasta course.
Calories: 898kcal
Equipment
- 1 large frying pan - you want something large enough to toss the pasta with the sauce
Ingredients
- 3 oz guanciale one 1/3 inch slice - don't get too hung up on being precise with the weight
- 1/4 tsp chili flakes
- 14 oz canned tomatoes - go for quality here
- 2 oz pecorino romano - grated. It needs to melt into the sauce. A microplane works really well for this.
- 8 oz spaghetti - again, go for quality
- fresh ground pepper - if that's your thing. I like it some days. Some days I go without.
Instructions
Get everything ready
- You're making spaghetti so put a big pot of water on to boil. Add a bunch of salt. You want the water to taste like the sea. It takes more than you think.
- Cut up your guanciale into 1/4 inch by 1/2 inch pieces. You don't need to be super precise here. This isn't baking
- Pass your tomatoes through a food mill if you have one. Use your hands to smush them up if you don't. It's fun.
- Grate your pecorino.
Make amatriciana
- There are a lot of detailed steps. Don't let that freak you out. This is basically frying up the guanciale, seasoning with a little crushed chili, simmering some tomatoes, tossing some pasta in the sauce and adding cheese. It really is that easy. Easy weeknight cooking once you get it down.
- Grab a big skillet. You will be tossing your pasta in the sauce so plan ahead.
- Preheat your chosen skillet over medium heat.
- Add the guanciale and cook, stirring frequently until you have beautiful little crispy pork bits. Remove the skillet from the heat.
- Remove the pork bits with a slotted spoon and look at how much fat has rendered. You want about two tablespoons or so in the pan. Depending on how fatty your guanciale is you may have a little more or a lot more. Remove all but two tablespoons. Use a spoon and be careful. You are playing with hot fat in a hot pan. That's a pretty lethal combination.
- Make sure your pot of water is at a rolling boil. I mean cranked. Salt your water. Now salt it some more. You want your water to taste like the sea.
- Look at your spaghetti package. There will be a recommended cooking time on it. Set a timer for one minute less than the recommended cooking time and add your spaghetti to your pasta pot. As soon as you can get it all submerged start the timer.
- Add the chili flakes and return the pan to the heat. Give the chili flakes a stir and cook for about 20 seconds then add in the tomatoes.
- Scrape up any browned bits in the pan and simmer the sauce for 5 minutes or until your pasta timer goes off.
- Toss the reserved crispy guanciale pork bits into the sauce. You can hold a few bits back to sprinkle over the amatriciana after you plate. Up to you.
- Transfer the almost cooked pasta to the skillet along with about a 1/4 cup of the pasta cooking water. Toss to combine the pasta with the sauce and cook for about a minute.
- Don't worry if it looks a little runny. The pecorino romano will fix that. Have faith.
- Set a bit of cheese aside to garnish. Off heat, add half the pecorino. Toss to combine. Add the other half and toss again.
- You don't want to wait to serve. Spaghetti all'amatriciana doesn't get better with age. Get it on the table!
- Serve topped with a bit of pecorino romano and the reserved guanciale bits if you kept them. A little grind of black pepper is a nice touch.
Nutrition
Calories: 898kcal | Carbohydrates: 100g | Protein: 32g | Fat: 42g | Saturated Fat: 17g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 1g | Monounsaturated Fat: 3g | Cholesterol: 75mg | Sodium: 978mg | Potassium: 864mg | Fiber: 7g | Sugar: 12g | Vitamin A: 618IU | Vitamin C: 18mg | Calcium: 394mg | Iron: 4mg