Pasta Amatriciana – Authentic Recipe! (VIDEO)

Pasta Amatriciana Ingredient Tips

Pasta Amatriciana is one of the four Roman pastas (along with Cacio e Pepe, Carbonara and Pasta alla Gricia). Fun fact: Pasta Amatriciana is the ony one of the four that has a tomato based sauce!

• guanciale – Guanciale is an Italian cured meat that is made from pork jowl or cheeks. I usually purchase it from an Italian grocery store (in Los Angeles, I’ve bought this from Bay Cities or Eataly). If you don’t have an Italian grocery near you and can’t find it, you can use pancetta or bacon. The main difference between guanciale and pancetta or bacon is that guanciale has a more intense flavor and firmer texture.
• pasta – you can use any kind of pasta; I prefer rigatoni, bucatini, or spaghetti. You want a tube shaped pasta so that the sauce will fill inside the pasta.
• pecorino cheese, finely grated – Pecorino Romano cheese is similar to Parmesan cheese but made from sheep’s milk and is sharper and saltier. If you don’t have Pecorino on hand, you can sub with Parmesan cheese at a 1:1 ratio.
• peeled San Marzano tomatoes, crushed by hand – San Marzano tomatoes are famous for their balanced flavors – I love using them because I find that they are perfectly balanced in their sweetness and acidity, with that distinct tomato flavor! I try to always have a can of San Marzano tomatoes in my pantry – I get them from Trader Joe’s or Whole Foods. When I crush the tomatoes, I feel for the tougher stem ends of the tomato and discard them because they don’t break down easily in the sauce.

Love pasta but want seafood instead? Try Shrimp Scampi Pasta or Linguine with Clams!

1. Prepare and Cook the Guanciale

Guanciale usually comes in thick slabs, which you’ll cut into whatever size you prefer. For Pasta Amatriciana, I recommend 1/4″ strips. First and foremost, you need to cut the tough outer rind around the guanciale.

Strain the crispy guanciale out of the pan and drain on a paper towel, leaving the fat in the pan.

At this point, you’ll notice some darker residue after crisping up the guanciale. While the guanciale fat is essential to making the sauce, that charred residue is not, so I’ll remove it.

I’ll pour out the guanciale fat into a bowl, leaving the residue in the pot, then wipe it out completely with a paper towel and discard it. Then add back the residue free guanciale fat. It’s a small extra step that helps prevent the sauce from tasting bitter or burnt.

Add the San Marzano tomatoes to a large bowl and use your hands to crush the tomatoes, removing any hard ends of the tomatoes. I like to hand crush the tomatoes and use this as an opportunity to remove any of the tougher root ends that sometimes remain on canned tomtoes. Removing the tougher pieces will make for a better sauce!

Add the crushed tomatoes to the pan with the guanciale fat. Season with crushed red pepper, salt, and pepper to taste, and simmer on low while you wait for the pasta water to boil.

Cook pasta in salted boiling water for 1 minute less than the package’s al dente instructions. Salting pasta water is the first step to seasoning your dish! I use 1 tablespoon of kosher salt for every 5 quarts of pasta water. The pasta will continue to cook when tossed in the warm sauce, so I like to undercook it to avoid overcooking later.

Add the pasta immediately to the sauce and mix to combine.

Add a ladle of pasta water and mix into the sauce and pasta. Add a handful of grated pecorino and continue mixing until the sauce is glossy and slightly thickened.

Add about 3/4 of the crispy guanciale back to the pasta and stir it in with the sauce and pasta.

Add more pecorino romano cheese and stir to combine. Serve on a hot plate top with a few pieces of the remaining crispy guanciale and pecorino cheese and enjoy!

Recipe Tips for Pasta Amatriciana

• If you can’t find guanciale, pancetta or bacon will work in a pinch.
• Cook your guanciale in a cold pan – this will help render out the fat. If you cook it in a hot pan, it’ll result in the guanciale being fried. The rendered fat will add richness and flavor to your Amatriciana sauce, which is quite simple and only has a handful of ingredients.
• Canned peeled tomatoes sometimes may still have tougher root ends of the tomatoes. I like to hand crush the tomatoes and remove these tougher ends so they don’t end up in the sauce. This extra step is worth it for the end result.
• Save your pasta water! When mixing your pasta, sauce, and cheese, you’ll notice that it will thicken over time. The pasta water can help you loosen the sauce and create the consistency you want.
• Using a pasta pan, like a saucier, allows you to toss the pasta in the sauce with cheese to help the pasta cling to the sauce. You’ll hear a swishing sound when tossing which lets you know you’re tossing it correctly!