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Amatriciana

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pastas•italian•contains meat, contains gluten
30 minutes•4 servings•

Ingredients

  • 1 cup pecorino romano cheese – finely grated, plus more (for serving)
  • 14 ounces whole peeled tomatoes – crushed by hand with juices
  • 5 ounces guanciale – cut into 0.25-inch batons
  • 1/3 cup dry white wine
  • 1/2 tsp crushed red pepper flakes
  • 1/2 tsp ground black pepper
  • 14 ounces spaghetti
  • 1 tbsp kosher salt
Amatriciana

Instructions

  1. 1.

    Bring a large pot of water to a boil over high heat.

  2. 2.

    Place the guanciale in a wide skillet and set over medium heat. Cook, stirring occasionally, until the fat renders and the edges are golden, 7–9 minutes.

  3. 3.

    Pour in the white wine and scrape up any browned bits; simmer until the wine reduces by about half, 1–2 minutes. Stir in the red pepper flakes and black pepper.

  4. 4.

    Add the tomatoes to the skillet, crushing them by hand as they go in. Simmer over medium-low, stirring occasionally, until the sauce is thick, shiny, and the fat has emulsified, 10–12 minutes.

  5. 5.

    Salt the boiling water with the kosher salt. Cook the spaghetti until very al dente, 1–2 minutes shy of package time. Reserve 1 cup pasta water, then drain.

  6. 6.

    Return the sauce to medium heat. Add the spaghetti and about 0.5 cup reserved pasta water. Toss and cook until the pasta is coated and glossy and the sauce clings, 1–2 minutes, adding more water as needed.

  7. 7.

    Remove from the heat. Add the Pecorino Romano and toss vigorously until creamy and well-emulsified. Serve immediately.

Amatriciana is a deeply savory Roman-Lazio pasta built on the trifecta of guanciale, tomato, and Pecorino Romano, with a gentle prickle of chili. The sauce is glossy rather than soupy, its richness balanced by bright, lightly crushed tomatoes. Each bite marries crisp-edged cured pork, tangy fruit, and salty sheep’s milk cheese into a silky coating that clings to strands of pasta.

Born in the town of Amatrice in the Apennines, the dish evolved from gricia, a tomato-less shepherds’ pasta. With the widespread adoption of tomatoes in central Italy, the sauce took its modern form and spread to Rome, where it became a staple of trattorie. Debates persist over details—spaghetti versus bucatini, wine or not, chili type—but the identity-defining constants remain guanciale, pecorino, and tomatoes, celebrated annually at local festivals and protected by civic tradition.