Pasta Amatriciana

A traditional Italian dish made with guanciale, tomato, pecorino romano, and chiles. Despite its simple ingredients, the dish offers deep, complex flavors, balancing rich pork with a tangy tomato base and subtle heat from dried peppers. Guanciale can be substituted with pancetta.

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Ingredients

FractionsDecimals

• 2 Teaspoons Olive Oil
• 4 Ounces Pancetta or Guanciale
• ³⁄₄ Cup Grated Pecorino Romano
• Kosher Salt
• ¹⁄₈ Teaspoon Red Pepper Flakes
• ¹⁄₈ Teaspoon Black Pepper
• 28 Ounce Can Whole Tomatoes
• 1 Pound Dried Buccatini

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Steps

1. Start boiling a large pot of salted water
2. In a separate large (12-inch) skillet, heat olive oil over medium.
3. Crush whole tomatoes (with your hands) into a bowl
4. Slice pancetta into quarter inch (1/4) cubes (should end up being about three quarters (3/4) of a cup). Add pancetta and cook, stirring occasionally, until golden, about 5 minutes.
5. To the skillet, add tomatoes, black pepper and red-pepper flakes, and season with salt. Cook, stirring occasionally and smashing tomatoes with the back of a wooden spoon, until tomatoes have broken down and sauce is thickened, about 15 minutes.
6. Meanwhile, cook pasta according to package directions until just shy of al dente. Reserve 1 cup of the pasta cooking water and drain.
7. Add pasta, tomato sauce and one-half (1/2) a cup of pasta cooking water back to the large pasta pot and stir vigorously over medium-high heat until pasta is evenly coated in the sauce, about 1 minute. (Add more pasta water if sauce is dry.)
8. Remove from heat, stir in the cheese and season to taste with salt. Divide pasta among bowls and garnish with more cheese and black pepper.

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