The name ‘Amatriciana’ comes from Amatrice, a small town on the border between Lazio and Abruzzo (about 80 km northeast of Rome). Originally, the local recipe was called ‘alla Gricia’. It was a rustic preparation, a shepherd’s dish made with two easily transportable local ingredients: Guanciale (salted pork cheek) and Pecorino Romano (sheep’s milk cheese).
At the end of the 18th century, tomatoes invaded Italian recipes, and 'Gricia' became 'Amatriciana'. As a result, the original recipe is sometimes called 'Amatricia bianca' (Bianca = White). The amatriciana recipe became increasingly famous in Rome during the 19th and early 20th centuries, due to the centuries-old connection between Rome and Amatrice. The recipe was extremely well received and was quickly considered a classic of Roman cuisine.
Pasta : 200 grams. While in Amatrice the dish is prepared with spaghetti, the use of bucatini, a type of large spaghetti with a hole in the middle, has become extremely common in Rome and is now predominant. Other types of dried pasta (notably rigatoni (ribbed tubes a little larger than Penne), large tuya) are also used, while fresh pasta is generally avoided.
Tomatoes: You can perfectly work with canned tomato pulp (in this case I use the small 210g cans from Mutti). I said pulp, not tomato puree or concentrated tomato. The other option, which I prefer when I have some available, is fresh tomatoes. I use cherry tomatoes (also good quality, there's no mystery, if you use industrial tomatoes full of water, you won't get any flavor!) that I cut in half. Count 12 cherry tomatoes.
Meat: Guanciale is ideal. The problem is finding it. You need to have a well-stocked Italian grocery store! It's a piece of unsmoked dried meat from the cheeks or jowls of the pig. Its name comes from guancia ("cheek" in Italian). Because it's dried meat, it keeps for a long time. Its taste is very distinctive, so if you can get some, get some.
If you can't find any, you should buy an equivalent, knowing that it won't be exactly the same! Pancetta is not normally smoked either and can be used as a substitute for Guanciale when it's not available, but be aware that it's not the same fat. Avoid industrial bacon, however!
Cheese: 20 grams of grated Pecorino Romano. Pecorino Romano is a traditional cheese from central Italy made from whole sheep's milk. As always, the ideal is to have a piece of cheese that you can grate when you need it; it's better than buying grated cheese (but hey, again, it's not a disqualification if you only have grated cheese...)
Pepper: 1/2 fresh red chili pepper or 0.25 to 0.75 grams of cayenne pepper. A quick word about chili peppers. The original recipe didn't use them, of course, since they arrived at the same time as tomatoes. But nowadays, Amatriciana is spicy, it's one of its characteristics. That said, if you can't stand the heat, you can completely do without it without it being a crime of lèse-majesté, unlike the cream in carbonara! For this spicy side, you can use half a fresh red chili pepper that you can cook like that and remove at the end of preparation before making the mixtures, or you can cut it into small pieces after removing the seeds. You can also use ground cayenne pepper instead. Half a gram gives a spiciness that I find nice, I sometimes put 0.25 when someone has clearly specified that they are afraid of the spicy side or 0.75 when people like "it to be a little hot".
White Wine: You will need 10 cl of white wine, ideally a white wine from central Italy, but other wines are suitable as long as they are good to drink...
Start the recipe 20 minutes before serving. I'm not talking about cooking the pasta since that depends on your pasta, so it's up to you to include heating the water and cooking the pasta in the timing. I cook on gas and for the pasta water, I heat a little water in the bottom of the pan and a liter and a half in the electric kettle. With this method, it takes me about 4 minutes to have boiling water in the pan.
M-20: In a sauté pan or large skillet, heat the guanciale, cut into large cubes, until the fat begins to render. If you're using pancetta, add a little olive oil, as it doesn't have the same fat content as guanciale. The pancetta should also be diced if you have a piece; if you have thin slices, cut them into small pieces, one to two centimeters on each side.
Prepare 5 cl of white wine
M-15: After 5 minutes, add 5 cl of white wine and leave on the heat for 3 more minutes. Prepare another 5 cl of white wine.
M-12: Remove the meat and replace it with the tomatoes. Season with salt, then add the chili pepper and 5 cl of white wine. If the sauce reduces too much afterward, you can thin it with a little pasta cooking water.
Grate 20 grams of Pecorino Romano
M-1: Reduce heat, return the meat and add the cheese. Mix. Drain the pasta and add it, mix well for a minute and serve with Pecorino Romano on hand.
