In Italian cuisine, sauce is a must-have addition to any pasta. It fully determines the taste of the dish. Italians believe that pasta cannot exist without sauce. They know how to cook it in every house. With great confidence, we can say that every region of Italy boasts its own sauce. In Liguria this is pesto, in Bologna - bolognese, in Lazio - carbonara. In the last region, another sauce was spread - Amatriciana. Photos and pasta recipes with it are presented in our article.
Dish history
Traditional Italian sauce got its name from the small town of Amatrice, located in the Lazio region. Its history goes back over 200 years. Amatriciana was originally known as grichi sauce and was cooked without tomatoes. Its main ingredients, both then and today, remain virtually unchanged. This is pork cheek and sheep's pecorino cheese.
Amatrician tomato sauce was invented at the end of the 18th century. The first mention of it dates back to 1790 and is found in one famous culinary book of the Roman chef Francesco Leonardi.
The close ties of Amatrice with Rome by the beginning of the 19th century made this sauce especially popular in the capital of Italy. Gradually, it spread throughout the Lazio region, with some changes. In the Roman dialect, the name of this sauce sounds like matrix, that is, without the first unstressed vowel. Under this name, the dish is served in the capital's Italian restaurants today.
Almost every town or village has its own recipe for Amatrician pasta. In some places, onions are not used in cooking or garlic is additionally added. Different types of cheeses are used, and not just the classic pecorino. But the dish from this turns out to be no less tasty, juicy and full.
Classic Amatrician Pasta Recipe
Actually cooking consists of two main stages:
- Boiling pasta.
- Cooking in a pan of tomato sauce.
The classic Amatrician pasta will turn out tastier if you take into account the following nuances:
- The sauce is traditionally served with spaghetti or bucatini.
- It is recommended not to chop the garlic for Amatricia through a press, but to cut into small pieces and fry in a pan with other ingredients.
- Instead of pecorino cheese, you can use parmesan to make the sauce. The dish will turn out no less tasty.
Amatrician Pasta Ingredients
The quantity of products indicated in the recipe will be enough for two servings of the dish. Amatrician pasta is prepared from the following ingredients:
- bucatini - 250 g;
- tomatoes - 400 g;
- onion - 1 pc.;
- pork belly - 350 g;
- olive oil - 50 ml;
- hot pepper - 1 pc.;
- salt - ½ tsp;
- black pepper peas - 3 pcs.
In addition, you can use any spices to taste. For example, garlic, basil, and nutmeg are traditionally added to Italian sauces. As a result, the dish will be more aromatic.
Amatriciana sauce recipe step by step
In the process of cooking, it is recommended to adhere to the following sequence of actions:
- Wash ripe and meaty tomatoes, and then make cross-shaped incisions on top of them, put in a small saucepan and pour boiling water. After 15 minutes, the skin of tomatoes can be easily removed by hand. Cut peeled tomatoes in half, remove seeds from them and grind in a blender.
- Chop the onion with a knife and fry in warmed olive oil.
- Cut the pork belly into small pieces and transfer to a pan to an almost ready onion.
- Grind peppercorns in a mortar. Add them to the brisket with onions along with salt and other spices.
- Stir the contents of the pan and continue cooking for another ten minutes.
- Add tomato puree and add half a glass of boiling water. Try on the salt.
- Reduce heat to a minimum and cover the pan with a lid. Strain for about 2 hours. The sauce should barely boil. Monitor fluid level. If it boils quickly, you can add some more water or dry white wine.
- As a result of prolonged languishing, the Amatrician will turn out to be homogeneous and glossy.
Decoration of the dish
When the sauce is almost ready, you can do pasta. For this dish, bucatini is ideal - thin spaghetti with a hole inside, resembling long tubes in appearance. For them, boil a large amount of water in a saucepan and add salt. After that, dip the paste in boiling water and cook for 8-10 minutes, stirring constantly, according to the instructions on the package.
Throw the prepared bucatini into a colander, wait until the water drains and transfer them to the pan for Amatriciana sauce. Mix the pasta, arrange on plates and sprinkle with grated cheese. For one serving, you need to take about 20 grams of sheep pecorino. Serve the dish immediately after cooking and only hot.
Spaghetti al amatriciana according to the recipe of Y. Vysotskaya
The well-known culinary specialist prepares Amatrician pasta as follows:
- Pour olive oil (1 tbsp.) Into the pan, heat it and put the bacon (100 grams), cut into thin strips.
- After 1 minute, add finely chopped garlic (2 cloves) and onion (½ pcs.).
- Fry vegetables with bacon over medium heat until golden brown.
- Add the tomatoes to the pan in their own juice (250 ml). Mix the almost ready sauce, add salt ( ⅔ tsp ) and a pinch of black pepper.
- Pour a tablespoon of vegetable oil into a pot of salted water. Put spaghetti in it and cook them until al dente.
- Discard the finished pasta in a colander.
- In a pan, combine spaghetti with sauce and mix. When serving, sprinkle the dish with fresh basil.