Spaghetti all'amatriciana

Ma bene, this recipe is amatriciana sauce and is based on a sauce that is made in the town of amatrice.

Ingredients.

Guanciale - this is cured pork cheek and jowl. You won't find it in wallmart or whole foods or even your local Italian store.

You will probably have to order it.

It looks like the image on the right.

This is pig, but unlike bacon which has huge veins of fat

or even pancetta {italian bacon}, this is MORE meat

and less fat so when you cook it it is chewier.

You can order this online. It won't go bad since it is cured.

You can keep it in your pantry or hang it in your kitchen for decoration.

For this recipe 1/4 pound of guanciale chopped into small cubes.

4 tomatoes, they need to be ripe. If they are not ripe make yourself some carbonara, don't even bother. Simply feel all the tomatoes and get ripe ones.

1/2 pound or half a box of spaghetti for two.

I used the spaghetti but you can use bucattini for example.

1/3 cup Pecorino romano 

2 table spoon olive oil

 A little white wine  3 tbsp

Cooking

So, because this guanciale doesn't have much fat.

Put 1 tbsp of olive oil on medium heat and add the guanciale.

Leave that for 10 minutes on medium to low heat so it can sweat a little fat out.

Meantime prepare the tomatoes.

To do this boil water in a small pot.

Drop the tomato in and count to 20, then flip it and count to 20.|

Then remove it and drop another one.

Heating up the tomato allows you to peel it very easily, Simply carve a slit and pull.

Then de-seed the tomato.

The reason is you want a sauce, not tomato peel or see sauce.

You can wash this under water to help remove them.

Then chop the tomatoes.

So, when the Guanciale is ready.

Start boiling water for the pasta.

Then throw some wine and let it evaporate the alcohol for 1 minute.

Then drop the tomatoes.

Put a lid and medium heat.

Count 10 minutes.

When 10 minutes have passed, your pasta water should be boiling.

Throw in the spaghetti and stir.

Count another 10 minutes.

By now your pasta should be almost ready.

Check your tomato sauce, the tomatoes should have broken up

and if you mix it with a fork or wood spoon you can make it into a sauce.

Empty the pasta and keep 1/2 cup pasta water.

Fire up the pasta sauce to high heat and adjust to the consistency 

you like your sauce using the pasta water.

Now lay it out.

Pasta without sauce.

Sauce in the middle.

Then sprinkle some grated pecorino.

If you want it oilier, drizzle some olive oil

and if you MUST have some color throw in some chopped something.

In general we felt the sauce was excellent and simple.

The guanciale is cured so it was salty.

The ripe tomatoes easily became a sauce.

The cheese was nice and gave it a slight dryness and earthiness. 

Enjoy.