A classic Italian pasta dish that’s full of fresh, bright, and bold flavors stemming from the tomatoes, garlic, pancetta, red pepper flakes, freshly ground black pepper, and finally Pecorino Romano.
Spaghetti all'Amatriciana
Prep time
Cook time
Total time
A classic Italian pasta dish that’s full of fresh, bright, and bold flavors stemming from the tomatoes, pancetta, garlic, red pepper flakes, freshly ground black pepper, and finally Pecorino Romano.
Author: Angie | FiestaFriday.net
Recipe type: Pasta
Cuisine: Italian
Yield: 6 servings
Ingredients
- 1 14-ounce can whole peeled tomatoes
- 3 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil, divided
- 4 ounces pancetta/bacon, chopped into little pieces
- 12 cloves garlic, thinly sliced
- ½ teaspoon red pepper flakes (or more if you like things really spicy)
- 1 cup dry white wine
- 2 teaspoons freshly ground black pepper
- Grated Pecorino Romano
Instructions
- Crush tomatoes with your hands, then drain, reserving the juice.
- In a skillet, on medium-high, heat 1 tablespoon of olive oil. Add pancetta/bacon pieces and fry until browned and crisp. Drain on a paper towel-lined plate. Set aside.
- Reduce heat to medium, add garlic slices, stir and cook until golden brown, about 2 minutes.
- Add red pepper flakes, stir briefly, then add the wine. Increase heat to medium-high.
- Let the wine simmer and reduce slightly, then add the crushed tomatoes and about ¼ cup of the reserved juice. Continue cooking until sauce is well-heated. Then reduce heat to low to keep it warm.
- While the sauce is cooking, boil the spaghetti following the directions on the box, but remove it 1 or 2 minutes sooner to keep it just shy of al dente. Reserve pasta water.
- Now increase heat to medium-high again on the sauce in the skillet, then add 1 cup of reserved pasta water. Stir, then add the drained spaghetti. Toss with a pais of tongs until spaghetti is coated with the sauce. If it seems too dry, add more pasta water.
- Remove skillet off the heat, then add the rest of olive oil, black pepper, and pancetta/bacon pieces. Toss again. Serve with grated Pecorino Romano.
Tips
- Don’t boil the pasta until al dente. Instead, boil until it’s just shy of al dente (1-2 minutes less). It will continue to cook when added to the sauce in the skillet.
- This is not a pasta dish with thick tomato sauce. Rather, the sauce is barely there. But you can add more sauce if you prefer. Use a 28-ounce can of tomatoes, instead.
- To give your pasta a deeper flavor, you can add a chunk of Pecorino Romano to your boiling water.