Pasta all'Amatriciana

By John, 23 January, 2021
Region
Italy
Description

Spaghett all'AmatricianaAmatrice is a small city in very central Italy. Occupied since prehistory, it was nearly destroyed by an earthquake in 2016. Right after that tragedy, many Italian-American restaurants added this as a special to help raise funds for the stricken community.

It's a simple, delicious dish, but not quite as quick as it looks. Pancetta is rendered and then cooked with onions and tomatoes long enough to become soft and mellow, then it's tossed with pasta, typically spaghetti or bucatini. 

Yield
6 Servings
Preparation time
1 hour
Ingredients
3⁄4 c Pancetta (diced)
1 Onion (sliced)
28 oz Tomatoes (peeled, seeded, and diced)
1 Dried Chili Pepper (seeded and chopped)
16 oz Spaghetti
Instructions
  1. Set a pasta pot full of salted water to boil.
  2. Put a little olive oil in a big skillet and saute the diced pancetta over moderate heat until the fat melts out.
  3. Saute the onion for about 10 minutes until quite soft and starting to brown.
  4. Add the tomatoes and the chili and cook for about 40 minutes. If it dries out, add a little of the boiling pasta water to keep it from sticking. Add salt and pepper if you think it needs it.
  5. Cook the pasta, then drain it and toss it with the sauce.
  6. Transfer to a serving dish and serve hot.
Notes
The chili is something of a wild card here. A single chili doesn't set a pound of pasta on fire; I prefer to add some zip, so I use three dried chilies, but you can omit it completely if you prefer.
Source
Traditional