Pasta all'Amatriciana

The first time I had this dish was in Marino, a small city older than Rome, built on steep hills near Castel Gandolfo and Lake Albano. It was made by the mother of a fellow pianist and it was so delicious that, pasta feeder that I am, I had to have 3 bowls of the stuff. And true to form, I had to learn how to make it and then make it at home again and again until I made it my own. Of course, what makes this dish so special is the addition of pancetta (Italian cured pork belly, i.e., bacon) to tomato sauce with a few other ingredients as well. But take note: it is perfectly acceptable to use regular bacon if you're in a pinch. I often make this dish with slab bacon and am giving ingredients for both ways.

Tagliatelle Amatriciana

The traditional pasta to be eaten with this sauce is Bucatini  (thick spaghetti with a buco or hole in it), but it is sometimes hard to find unless you have the time to travel to an Italian specialty store. In New York, it often requires traveling downtown to Little Italy or Greenwich Village unless you know where to find it elsewhere. Buon Italia in the Chelsea Market carries it among their seemingly countless assortment of imported pastas. But any long pasta will do: spaghetti, fettucine, tagliatelle, pappardelle, even maccheroni such as penne, farfalle, or rigatoni (but not so much) if you have sauce and no other type of pasta in the kitchen.

Extra Virgin Olive Oil

1 Onion, minced

3 Cloves Garlic (or more if you like)

2 1/3 inch slabs of Pancetta (about 1/3 pound) OR

3 1/4 inch slices Slab Bacon (diced)

1 can peeled whole San Marzano Tomatoes

Salt and Pepper to taste

1/4 Tsp. Red Pepper flakes (optional)*

2 Tbs. chopped Fresh Thyme

20 leaves Fresh Basil (slice in Chiffonade**)

1/4 stick unsalted Butter

1/4 cup Heavy Cream

Percorino Romano

Heat Olive Oil in a deep heavy bottomed saucepan and add onions, garlic and pancetta. Sauté over moderate heat until onions become translucent and the pancetta begins to render its fat. Add half of the thyme and half of the basil leaves, and the pepper flakes and stir. Put the tomatoes in a bowl and crush them with your hands and then pour the tomato pulp into the sauce.  Add the rest of the thyme and basil and salt and pepper to taste. Bring to a boil and lower heat to a simmer and let cook for about an hour, partially covered but stirring occasionally to make sure you don't scorch the sauce. Before you put the pasta in the water, add the butter and the cream to the sauce and stir. Allow to simmer gently to meld all flavors while the pasta cooks.

Cook one pound of pasta in a large stockpot full of salted boiling water (do not salt the water until the water comes to the boil). Stir occasionally so the pasta doesn't stick. For one pound of pasta you will need at least 1 gallon of water (I like using a fairly large stock pot, half full of water). Cook the pasta until it is al dente (tagliatelle will cook faster than bucatini so be patient). Right at the moment that you are ready to pour the pasta into a colander, take a ladle-full of the pasta water and put it into the tomato sauce and stir. Drain the pasta, return the pasta to the empty pot or pour it into a large bowl for the table. At this point, I usually put another slab of butter into the pasta to melt before pouring the sauce on top and mixing, but that is entirely up to you.  Stir the pasta so it is lightly coated with sauce and divide into 4 bowls, top with a little bit more sauce (as in the picture above) and serve with freshly grated Pecorino Romano cheese at the table. You can also garnish the dish with more basil if you like.

One pound of pasta will serve 4 people as a main course or 6 as a first course.

Buon appetito!

* Regarding the pepper flakes: you can use as much as your tastes dictate and while it is true that some people like very hot and spicy food, the intention here is to give the dish a little piquancy, not inundate it with heat. We want subtlety in the spice, not a tongue lashing with fire.

** Chiffonade is the process of piling multiple leaves of Basil one on top of the other and then rolling the pile up into a tight little log. After you slice the log, you will have thinly sliced strips of basil.