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Bucatini all'amatriciana
Amatriciana style bucatini
Pasta all'Amatriciana comes from Amatrice, a town on the
border between Lazio and Abruzzi about 80 miles northeast of Rome:
a recipe and a bit of history. |
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Ingredients
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- 1 lb pasta, bucatini
- 1 medium onion, finely chopped
- 2 oz slab bacon or pancetta finely diced
- 3 T butter
- 2 - 14 1/2 oz (or 1 28 oz) can Italian plum tomatoes, crushed
- 1/2 chili pepper, broken into small pieces, or 1/4 t chili pepper flakes to taste
- salt and freshly ground black pepper
- 1/4 cup pecorino cheese
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Characteristics
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Course |
FIRST
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Preparation time |
45 minutes
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Difficulty |
Medium |
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Recipe for persons |
4 to 6 |
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Region |
Abruzzi Latium |
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Preparation
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How to make the pasta all'amatriciana, melt the butter in a large
pan over medium heat. Saute' the onion until transparent, or about 5
minutes, then add the chili and pancetta and saute' until onion is golden
and the pancetta or bacon nice and crisp, about 8 to 10 minutes. Add the
tomatoes and cook over medium-high heat stirring occasionally, making sure
sauce does not burn, about 15 minutes. Add the salt to taste. Make sure it
needs salt, as pancetta and or bacon are quite salty. You will also be
later adding the cheese, which is rather salty, too.
At the same time cook the pasta, when
done to taste, drain and pour into a warm serving bowl or directly into
pan with the sauce, mix well adding grated cheese to taste and serve the
pasta all'amatriciana. Pass
extra cheese at table.
In the pasta all'amatriciana, spaghetti can be
substituted for the bucatini or, if in a crunch, pennette. |
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A bit of history.
This dish comes from Amatrice, a
town on the border between Lazio and Abruzzi about 80 miles northeast of Rome.
Il guanciale di Amatrice and the amatriciana: food favored by the
transumanti Abbruzzesi sheep carers due to its easy conservation and
transportation, and its high caloric value, the guanciale, a sort of cured meat,
originally was, together with the pecorino cheese, the only condiment for the
pasta, that was called "GRICIA". At the end of 700, with the addition of
tomatoes, this dish became famous with the name "AMATRICIANA".
On the Sunday after Ferragosto,
August 15, Bucatini all'Amatriciana is served with great fanfare at local
celebrations. Ferragosto, "Holiday of August", is one of the most
observed Italian public holidays when practically all of Italy comes to a halt.
The big factories in the North such as Fiat close their gates and most Italians
get in their car or on the train leaving the large towns to the elderly and the
tourists.
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