Spaghetti all’Amatriciana comes from Amatrice, a little village in the Apennine Mountains, near Rome. Tubular strands of bucatini are the best pasta for this tomato, pancetta and chilli sauce — they’re perfectly designed to take on the delicious flavours.

There’s some debate over whether onion should be included; it seems in Amatrice that it is not. There’s also discussion about whether to leave the chilli whole and remove it, or finely chop it to make the sauce hotter. I think this is entirely up to you!

INGREDIENTS

1/4 cup olive oil
1 onion, thinly sliced
150g pancetta or bacon, cut into strips
1/2 cup dry white wine
4 medium tomatoes, peeled, seeded and chopped
or 1 x 400g can chopped tomatoes
1 small dried or birdseye chilli
salt and freshly ground black pepper
A pinch cayenne
375g spaghetti or bucatini
1/4 cup grated parmesan cheese
2 tablespoons grated pecorino cheese

METHOD

Heat the olive oil in a frying pan and sauté the onion over a gentle heat until soft. Add the pancetta or bacon and fry slowly for a few minutes. Moisten with wine and continue cooking until it evaporates a little.
Add the tomatoes to the pan with the chilli. If using canned tomatoes, try to flick out the seeds before adding with a little of the tomato juice. Season to taste with salt, pepper and cayenne and cook over a brisk heat for 15 minutes. Remove the chilli.
Bring a large saucepan of salted water to the boil. Lower the pasta into the water, stir well and cook for 10–12 minutes or until al dente. Drain and toss the pasta with the tomato sauce. Sprinkle grated parmesan and pecorino on top.

This recipe appears courtesy of Cooked.com.au. 

Recipe from Margaret Fulton Favourites by Margaret Fulton.