Amatriciana

Spring always makes me feel a little nostalgic so I thought that an old classic would be just the thing to help me break out of my recent self imposed silence.

Are you up for a little history?

This dish gets its name from Amatrice a town in the province of Rieti.

Tradition holds that it was a dish – originally called gricia and made without tomatoes – prepared by shepards using the only ingredients that they could keep and carry with them – cured pork cheeks, onions and pecorino cheese.

The dish became popular nationally in the 1800’s and it was probably at that time that tomatoes and olive oil were added to the recipe.

It is probably one of the easiest dishes to prepare and certainly a favourite of mine.

Amatriciana is a sauce generally used with long pasta, spaghetti, vermicelli or bucatini, In this case I (gasp) broke with tradition and threw in a little Abruzzo flair by using fresh macheroni alla chitarra.

Spaghetti all’amatriciana

Serves 4

400 gr (1 small can) plum tomatoes

100 gr guanciale, cubed

1 medium sized onion

30 ml olive oil

grated pecorino cheese

320 grams spaghetti/vermacelli/bucatini

course salt

salt/pepper

Boil water in a large stock pot. While waiting for the water to boil, crush the tomatoes with a fork and chop the onion, not too finely and saute it in the olive oil.  Once the onions are translucent add the guanciale.  Once the guanciale has tuned a light pink, add the tomatoes and their liquid and continue to cook the sauce over low heat for 15 to 20 minutes. Season to taste.

Once the water comes to a boil, add course salt and the pasta of your choice. Once the pasta is cooked, drain and dress with the sauce. 

Sprinkle with grated pecorino.

Serve immediately.