Mezzi Rigatoni all’Amatriciana
Prepare time: 10 min
Cook: 15 min
Ready in: 25 min
Servings: 4 people
Information about this typical Roman recipe
Amatriciana is one of the four traditional Roman pasta’s. Traditionally this recipe was just made with Guanciale, which is cured pork cheek, pecorino, tomatoes and served with Bucatini. A long pasta thicker than spaghetti with a hole inside. Nowadays there are more variations, very common is to serve the sauce with a shorter type of pasta, like Rigatoni or Mezzi Rigatoni. In the recipe below I’ve added red onion and red wine, for extra flavour. Buon appetito!
Ingredients
- 30/40 grams of Guanciale ( cured pork cheek) per person. If you can’t find Guanciale use Pancetta (pork belly)
- 80/100 grams of pasta per person Mezzi Rigatoni/Bucatini
- 150 grams of Pecorino
- 50 grams of Parmigiano
- 100 ml red wine *optional
- 1 red onion, cut in very thin slices *optional
- 400 grams of good quality peeled tomatoes (blended)
Preparation
Bring a pot with water to boil. Then start with cutting the Guanciale. Cut thick slices and get rid of the skin parts. Then cut cubes and put on the side. Grate both the parmesan and the pecorino cheese and put on the side for later. If you use a red onion, peel and chop finely, leave on the side.
Take a pan, put on medium heat and add the Guanciale. Don’t add any other fat, since we will let the Guanciale sweat and fry in it’s own fat. Turn them in between, so both sides get crispy. When they’re nice crispy and brown, take the Guanciale from the pan and leave the fat inside. Then add the red onion, leave for a couple of minutes and blush with the red wine after. Let the wine evaporate a bit, then add the blended peeled tomatoes, a pinch of salt and leave simmer on low heat.
Add a some sea salt to the boiling water and cook the pasta for about 8/9 minutes, until al dente. When ready add the pasta directly into the sauce and add a tiny bit of pasta water. Mix everything well. then turn of the heat, toss the pan to lower the temperature and start adding half of the Guanciale. Then slowly start adding the cheese, while you keep mixing. You will see the sauce become more creamy, by adding the cheeses.
Serving
Start with some pasta on a plate, finish with more pecorino cheese on top, the crispy Gaunciale and some black pepper.
Buon appetito!
