RIBALDO
L'AMATRICIANA

After carbonara, it’s almost natural to pair it with its (for me) more illustrious sister: L'AMATRICIANA.

Here, too, we’re talking about SPAGHETTI (the bucatini is a Roman thing, the real amatriciana is made with spaghetti). However, I like short pasta, like mezze maniche and tortiglioni! Sometimes, though, I use spaghetti. Bucatini? Never used them! I should note that the recipe doesn’t differ much from the original, but there is a twist: ONION! (...just a little but I like it)

INGREDIENTS

Pasta (basic spaghetti or mezze maniche or tortiglioni from Garofalo or De Cecco)

Guanciale: from Amatrice! (you can find it in large supermarkets like Elite or maybe try your trusted butcher). The pork from Amatrice (for how it’s raised, for how it eats, etc.) is among the best in Italy and that's also why amatriciana is special. Note that this statement, true until a few decades ago, is now TO BE VERIFIED. I don’t know if today, with globalization and various junk, the pork from Amatrice is still the best or at least among the best throughout Italy. Anyway, get yourself a nice piece of fresh and PEPPERED guanciale, if it's from Amatrice, even better.

The rind: do not throw it away! Put it in the water and leave it there until the end, throw it away after you have drained the pasta; it will give a pork flavor to the pasta.

Pecorino: also from Amatrice (even harder to find than guanciale. Pecorino from Amatrice is less strong than Roman pecorino, so if you can't find pecorino from Amatrice, get another type but not the one called "Roman" which is Sardinian if we’re being precise...)

Chili pepper fresh aromatic and spicy (but in the original recipe, there is the one from Amatrice that’s mildly spicy and then it’s used whole and removed at the end... practically like this, but it doesn’t spice a damn thing)

Okay, enough, it's useless for me to also tell you about oil, onion, salt, I mean if you don’t have these things at home go to McDonald’s and stop reading.

RIBALDO’s sauté: basically, as soon as you put the oil, you immediately need to add salt and chili pepper. This way the oil will be tasty and spicy. It would be, even if you added salt and chili afterwards, but adding them at the beginning is better, it blends and flavors more. Be careful, the oil should heat well but not burn, start it at a lively flame but not too much. When you feel it’s good and hot, throw in the guanciale (cut it a bit as you like, but try to make the pieces all the same size so they can fry evenly).

I don't sauté it too much, at some point I add the chopped onion (just a little as we were saying, it shouldn't be there, but...). I let it go a bit more and then deglaze with white wine (farmer’s wine, grape juice, the dark yellow one that gets you drunk and the next day you’re the same).

After a while, I add the sauce:

The sauce: Graziella brand peeled tomatoes, so no pulp or puree (if you don’t have peeled tomatoes use pulp and puree together)

When you add the sauce raise the heat because it needs to boil a bit... just a bit, about 5 minutes. Then lower it to the minimum and cover. Let it go for another 15 minutes and stop. The amatriciana sauce isn’t the kind of ragù that needs to go for hours; in 20 minutes it’s ready.

That’s all. I add pecorino at the end on the plates, I don’t like it mixed with the sauce, but many mix it with the sauce and pour a good amount into the sauce before seasoning the pasta. At the end, a whirl of freshly ground pepper.

If you know how to make this, there’s no need to use the cooking water, but don’t drain the pasta to death or it will dry out.

Final general advice that you're reading at the end but you should ALWAYS put into practice. When you cook, always check everything, stir the sauté, look at it, the same with the sauce. When you cook, never forget about the stuff you have on the stove, check, stir, taste, decide for yourself, forget about the TIMING where you're there with a watch or set an alarm like I’ve seen many do! DRIIIIIIINNN! it’s ready! oh, go to hell! :)

Enjoy your meal.