An easy recipe for the classic Italian Pasta Amatriciana – a simple, delicious pasta made with just a handful of ingredients.
This pasta tastes wonderful: rich, lightly spiced and full of flavour.
I use whole peeled San Marzano tomatoes, simply for the flavour. They carry so much flavour, and it is easy to crush them in your hands. I think a simple dish like this deserves tomatoes with plenty of flavour. If you would rather use chopped tomatoes or polpa, by all means do.
I had this dish recently on our holiday in the Maldives – one of the resorts we stayed at was Italian, and I can assure you they knew how to make a Pasta Amatriciana.
Traditionally the dish is made with guanciale and pecorino. Personally I prefer it with pancetta and a good parmesan, so that is what the recipe is based on. If you are more of a guanciale and pecorino person, do use them. You may want to reduce the quantity of both by 20 g, as both ingredients have a stronger flavour. You can always add more cheese to taste.
Pasta Amatriciana
Ingredients
- 2 tins whole peeled tomatoes – preferably San Marzano
- 150 g pancetta, diced – or guanciale
- 1 small onion, finely chopped
- 2-4 cloves garlic, thinly sliced
- 1/2 tsp chilli flakes
- 4 tbsp tomato purée
- 60 g parmesan – or pecorino, finely grated
- 500 g pasta
- Salt and freshly ground black pepper
- Olive oil
- Pasta cooking water
To serve
- Finely grated parmesan
Method
- Crush the whole peeled tomatoes with your hands.You can also use chopped tomatoes or polpa, but whole San Marzano tomatoes have far more flavour – and this dish really deserves it.
- Heat a frying pan with a good glug of olive oil and fry the pancetta until golden.
- Add the onion and fry until soft and translucent, then add the garlic and chilli. Season generously with freshly ground black pepper and stir well.
- Add the tomato purée and cook it through for a couple of minutes, then pour in the crushed tomatoes. Let the sauce simmer over a low to medium heat for about 15-20 minutes.Meanwhile, cook the pasta until al dente so it is ready when the sauce has reduced.
- Stir the parmesan into the sauce and season to taste with salt and freshly ground black pepper.
- Toss the pasta in the tomato sauce and let it simmer for a couple of minutes until the sauce clings to the pasta. Adjust the consistency with a little pasta cooking water if needed. The sauce should be soft and glossy, neither too thick nor too thin.
- Serve topped with grated parmesan and freshly ground black pepper.
Nutrition
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Nam nam
En virkelig lækker ret, tak!
Hejsa
Tusind tak for de søde ord, hvor er det dejligt at høre 🙂
Warm wishes, Dianna
Den smager helt vidunderligt!
Hejsa
Det er jeg så glad for at høre – tusind tak 🙂
Warm wishes, Dianna