Hey! I'm Des!
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Pasta Amatriciana
Pasta Amatriciana made with pancetta, tomatoes, Romano cheese, crushed peppers and onions. It will be a family favorite!
Ryan and I have been fortunate enough to go to Italy twice in our lives. The trips were a dream. During those two trips we visited Rome, Venice, Florence, the Amalfi Coast, Milan, Lake Como and Siena. The country, the sights and the people were wonderful. The food and wine were fantastic. I still find myself thinking about some of the meals we had there. And it has been almost a decade since we visited. I consider the meal that I had at Il Buco Ristorante in Sorrento to be among one of the best meals I have ever had. Ever.
Whether we were eating stuffed zucchini blossoms, linguine aglio olio or gelato, everything was unbelievably delicious. My favorite meals were always the ones that were simple. Meals that tasted like home cooking. Pasta Amatriciana is a perfect example of that.
What is pasta all’amatriciana?
Pasta all’amatriciana is a traditional Italian dish with guanciale, tomatoes, olive oil and romano cheese. Guanciale is an Italian cured meat and, unfortunately, is not readily found here in the US. Pancetta is a great substitute and a lot easier to find. Pancetta is basically Italian bacon, but unlike American bacon it is not smoked. If you cannot find pancetta use thick cut unsmoked bacon.
Another traditional aspect of Pasta Amatriciana is the pasta. Bucatini pasta is traditional. Bucatini pasta is a thick spaghetti like pasta with a hole in the middle. I like it because it’s thicker and has more of a bite to it. In recent years I have seen bucatini pasta available at my grocery store. If you cannot find it, you can substitute spaghetti or linguine.
Originally published in 2009. Republished with updated photos in 2018.
Pasta Amatriciana Recipe
Ingredients:
- 1 pound pasta such as spaghetti, buccatini, or linguine
- 1/3 pound pancetta or thick cut bacon, chopped
- 1/2 yellow onion, diced
- 1 (28 ounce) can diced tomatoes, drained
- 1/8 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes
- kosher salt and pepper to taste
- 1/4 cup freshly grated pecorino romano cheese
Instructions
Start the water for your pasta. Cook according to box directions.
Meanwhile, brown pancetta in a large skillet over medium heat, 5-7 minutes. Drain on paper towels, reserve pan drippings.
In the same skillet add the onion and crushed red pepper. Cook until soft, about 3-5 minutes.
Add diced tomatoes, and salt and pepper. Cook 15 minutes, sauce will reduce slightly. (Note: Pancetta can be salty so taste your sauce before you start adding salt.)
Return pancetta to pan, toss in pasta. Add pecorino romano cheese, toss pasta once more. Serve.
Notes
Enjoy!
Hey! I'm Des!
Welcome to Life’s Ambrosia where Dinner is served and memories are made. Here you will find over 1000 tried and true recipes for every possible occasion. In the last 10 years, this blog has helped millions of families put dinner on the table and create food memories. Let me help you too.
Have new recipes emailed to you.
Allyson Zea
May 3, 2018 at 1:14 pmOh i can’t wait to try this pasta – YUM!
Abeer
May 3, 2018 at 11:07 amLove a good Amatriciana! This pasta looks incredible!
Jen
May 3, 2018 at 5:37 amPasta dishes always go over well in my house! Can’t wait to try this one!
Sabrina
May 3, 2018 at 5:36 amThis looks fantastic! I am definitely a pancetta fan so the addtion of this makes my heart happy!
Dee
May 2, 2018 at 8:15 pmI love how simple this is — definitely going on our menu!
Dorothy at Shockingly Delicious
May 2, 2018 at 5:38 pmMy weakness is a delicious bowl of pasta. This looks like the real deal! Soooo good.
Amanda
May 2, 2018 at 2:07 pmThis looks absolutely amazing! Perfect for the family!
Massimo
November 18, 2010 at 7:51 amMy version, coming from Rome:
– the recipe actually calls for bucatini
– no white wine, which has no obvious business here;
– replace onion with four-five cloves of garlic;
– replace truckload of tomatoes with one big fresh tomato, peeled and seeded
(to peel, put in boiling water 50 seconds – to seed cut in the middle and crush it in your hand)
Do try it…
Serve it with an Italian Frascati white, for instance, a wine of the region, not a Pinot Grigio (from NE Italy…).
oneka
October 4, 2010 at 1:22 pmi love this recipe…
carolyn
January 27, 2010 at 9:14 amMy family and I lived for several years, in Rome, where my husband worked. I tried spaghetti all’amatriciana at a restaurant there, and fell in love with it. I’ve been looking for a recipe for it ever since. Last night I tried yours, and it was delicious!! I had to use thick-cut American style bacon, but it still worked just fine, and it was a huge hit at our dinner table. I added chopped Italian parsley on top just before serving, and I heated up some crusty bread to sop up the extra juice. Mmmmmmmm!!!
Deseree
April 23, 2009 at 2:55 pmThanks Tim!
You’re welcome Barr! :)
I hope you enjoy it Debbie!
Debbie
April 22, 2009 at 5:38 amLooks wonderful. I love all things pasta!! I will have to try this sometime….
Barr
April 22, 2009 at 4:12 amAw Des, this sounds awesome! I’m a huge Giada fan, for more than one reason ;) but I didnt catch this particular show. Thanks for laying it out for us!
B
Tim
April 22, 2009 at 4:10 amPasta All’Amatriciana is one of my favourites, especially for a quick meal on a weeknight. Yours looks great, by the way!