Easy | Prep: 5 min | Cook: 20 min | Serves: 2

Amatriciana is carbonara’s bolder, angrier sibling. Where carbonara is rich and restrained, Amatriciana brings acidity, heat, and the deep savoury funk of cured pork rendered down until its fat turns glossy and the edges start to catch. It comes from Amatrice, a town in Lazio, and it’s one of the few pasta sauces where tomatoes genuinely earn their place. The combination of guanciale (or pancetta if you can’t find it), pecorino, white wine, and chilli makes something that tastes far more complex than the ingredient list suggests.

Ingredients

  • 200g rigatoni or bucatini
  • 150g guanciale or pancetta, cut into lardons
  • 1 tin (400g) good-quality chopped tomatoes
  • 1 small dried chilli, crumbled (or a pinch of chilli flakes)
  • 100ml dry white wine
  • 50g pecorino Romano, finely grated
  • Salt and black pepper
  • Olive oil

Method

  1. Render the guanciale Add the guanciale to a cold pan with a small drizzle of olive oil. Bring it up to medium heat slowly — you want the fat to render out gently rather than fry hard. Cook for 8–10 minutes until the lardons are golden and the fat has turned translucent. Remove the meat with a slotted spoon and set aside, leaving the fat in the pan.

  2. Build the sauce Add the chilli to the fat and let it sizzle for 30 seconds. Pour in the white wine and let it reduce by half, scraping up any stuck bits. Add the tomatoes. Season lightly with salt (the guanciale and pecorino are salty — taste first). Simmer for 10–12 minutes until the sauce has thickened and deepened in colour.

  3. Cook the pasta Boil the pasta in generously salted water until just al dente. Reserve a large mug of pasta water before draining.

  4. Finish Return the guanciale to the sauce. Add the drained pasta and a splash of pasta water. Toss over medium heat for 2 minutes until the sauce clings. Remove from heat and stir through most of the pecorino. Serve immediately with the rest of the cheese on top.

Cook With Your Senses

Inspired by Ethan Chlebowski’s sensory approach to cooking — the idea that your senses should tell you more than a timer ever could.

  • Look: The rendered guanciale fat should be translucent gold in the pan, not brown and crackling. The finished sauce should be a deep brick-red — not orange (undercooked) and not dark brown (overcooked).
  • Listen: The sizzle of chilli in rendered fat is quiet and fragrant. The wine going in should hiss and steam. After that, the simmer should be a gentle, bubbling murmur.
  • Smell: Guanciale fat has a rich, porky depth that’s more complex than regular bacon. When the wine reduces, the sharp alcohol note should blow off and leave something mellower behind.
  • Touch: The pasta should have a slight resistance when you bite — al dente, not soft. If it bends without snapping, it’s overdone.
  • Taste: Salty, spicy, and tomato-sharp, with a savoury pork richness underneath. If it tastes flat, it needs more pecorino. If it tastes too sharp, a tiny pinch of sugar in the sauce will round it out.

Notes

  • Guanciale is cured pig cheek and it has a different fat composition to pancetta — silkier, more unctuous, slightly more funky. Worth seeking out at a good Italian deli.
  • Pecorino Romano, not Parmesan. The saltiness and sharpness is non-negotiable for this dish.
  • Some versions skip the wine entirely. Those versions are worse. The wine lifts the sauce.
  • Don’t add garlic. This is one of the few Italian pasta sauces where garlic has no business being present. I know. It’s hard to accept. Accept it.

Inspiration

Adapted for Ryan’s kitchen. Original inspiration: seriouseats.com