This is my go-to Amatriciana-style pasta recipe for when stocks are running low. It’s a beauty.
Serves two
Pancetta cubes or any cured meat you have lying around (optional)
Fresh tomatoes 400g chopped, or 2 tins (if self-isolating)
Fresh chilli 1, or 1tsp chilli flakes (if self-isolating)
Garlic 1 clove
White wine 1 large glass (optional – we appreciate booze is precious)
Parmesan or other hard cheese
Black pepper cracked
Long pasta 200g
Fry off the pancetta cubes/cured meat. If it gives off a lot of oil, you’re good to go. If it’s all getting a bit dry and burnt, add a glug of olive oil. If you want to make this recipe vegetarian-friendly, add some buillon to a good few glugs of olive oil and heat.
Chop your tomatoes roughly to a size that will break down easily in the pan, and add along with the finely chopped chilli when the cured meat’s fat has rendered or when the veg stock paste has heated through.
Keep simmering the tomatoes until the tomatoes start to ooze and the excess liquid starts to evaporate.
Meanwhile, bring a large pan of salty water to the boil and add 200g of long pasta (we’re talking your linguines, your spaghettis, your bucatinis).
Once your tomatoes have started breaking down substantially and the sauce is starting to dry out, add the glass of white wine. Keep reducing.
Once the pasta is nearly done, scoop a ladle’s worth of the pasta water into the simmering tomato sauce, and reduce one final time. This should make your sauce smoother and shinier.
Add the pepper to taste, then add the pasta to the thick intense sauce and mix thoroughly. Grate a metric buttload of hard cheese over it. Serve.
