Spaghetti All - Amatriciana

Amatriciana is one of Rome’s essential pasta sauces, and this version keeps it stripped down the way it should be. Diced bacon (or prosciutto, if you want to go more traditional) fries gently in olive oil and butter until golden, then chopped skinned tomatoes and diced pimento cook down for 10 minutes into a quick, chunky sauce.

The beauty of Amatriciana is that the rendered pork fat becomes the sauce base. Five minutes of gentle frying coaxes out enough fat to coat every strand of spaghetti, and the browned bits of meat add salty, savory pops throughout.

Half the sauce gets tossed directly with the drained pasta so it absorbs into the noodles, then the rest goes on top where you can see it. A generous sprinkle of grated cheese finishes the plate, with more on the side for the table.

Simple recipes like this live or die on ingredient quality. Use the ripest tomatoes you can find and real Pecorino Romano if possible.

Pro Tips

• Dice the bacon small and uniform. Small pieces render their fat more evenly and distribute better through the pasta.
• Skin the tomatoes by scoring an X on the bottom, blanching for 30 seconds, and peeling. Raw tomato skin rolls up into tough little tubes in the sauce.
• Don’t overcook the tomatoes. Ten minutes keeps them bright and fresh. Longer and they lose their vibrancy.
• Toss the pasta with the sauce immediately after draining while it’s still hot. The starch on the surface helps the sauce grip.

Variations

• Use guanciale (cured pork cheek) instead of bacon for a truly authentic Roman Amatriciana.
• Add a pinch of red pepper flakes with the tomatoes for a subtle heat.
• Swap spaghetti for bucatini, which is the traditional pasta shape for this sauce.