Spaghetti Amatriciana

Ingredients for 4 people 

400g spaghetti, 250g guanciale jowl bacon from Amatrice cut into thick slices, 500g San Marzano tomatoes (or 400g of canned peeled tomatoes), 150g pecorino sheep cheese from Amatrice, 1 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil and 1 red chili pepper not too hot.

Directions: 

Put water to boil to cook the spaghetti.

Boil the tomatoes for a few seconds, run under cold water and then peel them. Cut the tomatoes into slices, remove the seeds and put the tomatoes aside in their juice.

Cut the Amatrice guanciale jowl bacon into uniform strips and fry them until crispy in a hot pan with the olive oil and chili pepper, removing any excess grease and stirring every once in a while with a wooden spoon.

Put some of the crispy guanciale aside in a bowl to use as garnish and then add the tomatoes to the pan and let it savor with the rest of the jowl bacon for around 10 minutes.

Drain the spaghetti when it is ‘al dente’ firm and add it to the pan, turning up the heat to cook the flavor in. Turn off the heat, add the grated pecorino and mix it into the pasta. Serve adding some of the left over crispy guanciale on top of each plate together with a sprinkling of pecorino.

This is an authentic Amatrice recipe that I prepare following the instructions of Doctor Wine (Daniele Cernilli). Remember to use guanciale jowl bacon because it has a different flavor from normal bacon. The pecorino from Amatrice is more delicate and less salty than the classic Pecorino Romano. If you do not have it then you can use Pecorino Romano but less of it.

We chose this recipe to commemorate, in our own way, the victims of the August 24 earthquake in and around Amatrice. We would like to remind everyone that the Civil Protection agency has set up a phone number, 45500 , to raise funds through the use of SMS text messages or using a land line at a cost of 2 euro. The funds will all go to the various associations working in the disaster area. It is also possible to make a donation directly to the Red Cross by bank draft to their IBAN account number: IT40F0623003204000030631681. 

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Wine to pair:

Querciabella Chianti Classico 

An excellent, totally vegan Chianti Classico. The bio-dynamic methods used in the vineyards and the winery means that no animal derivatives are used. The wine has a bright, ruby color and an intensely fruity aroma of black cherry, yellow peach and prune along with slightly spicy notes. The mouthfeel is taut, saline and youthful and has a nice length.

Production area: the towns of Greve in Chianti, Panzano, Radda and Gaiole.

Grape variety: 100% Sangiovese which has been bio-dynamically cultivated since 2000 (organically from 1988).

Winemaking method: Fermented and aged for around a year in French oak barriques and tonneau barrels of which only 5% are new.

Alcoholic content: 13.5%

Serving temperature: 14-17°C