When in Rome... ( Penne all' Amatriciana)

We love the flamboyantly noisy beauty of The Eternal City. Rome, the capital of Italy is not shy! Through the translucent cooling beauty of the many fountains, millions of tourists try to find refuge in a bottle of ice cold mineral water. The sound of cars, engines, music and a fusion of languages make the city as beautiful as beautiful can be.

Piazza Navona



At night, a peaceful , silvery blanket covers the sky. The sounds and the heat collected through the day, and still very much felt, dance... all the way up towards millions of stars and the moon. Rome is beautiful!

Ancient and new hold hands, history can be touched, in the Eternal City. We so love being in Rome. Beautiful lady, you smell like the sun in the day and at night you wear expensive perfume and your most beautiful designer gown!

Rome is gorgeous at night! Piazza di Trevi, with its beautiful fountain (a work of art by Bernini, like the fountain in Piazza Navona) is still alive at 2 in the morning... buzzing with LA DOLCE VITA!

 Fontana di Trevi. So full of life!

When in Rome, my husband and I like to dress up in the evening, and go out to eat. It's a ritual we love performing. We walk all the way down the beautiful Via Cavour and three blocks down we turn left and walk some of the way, till we reach "Le Due Colonne" a lovely restaurant down the side of the Basilica di Santa Maria delle Grazie, a beautiful big church ( so many churches and nuns and Berlusconi in Rome!)

At "Le Due Colonne" they have a very good menu, wonderful, friendly  staff and excellent food! The last couple of times we were at the restaurant, we HAD  to have "Amatriciana" , the most Roman of Roman dishes, as they do it so well, there, and I love it because, like Rome, it's lively, fiery and hot!

Here is my recipe. When I make this in Italy, I buy guanciale, which is a delicious kind of pancetta (in fact, it's not pancetta, which means "belly" but pork "cheek" cured just the same as pancetta, and it gives the dish its  rich flavour) Unfortunately, when I'm not there, I have to use pancetta or a big piece of uncut bacon, which I then cut into  lardon size and shape pieces.

Here is my recipe:

Sugo all'Amatriciana

con Penne

Serves 4

4 tbs olive oil

1 medium onion

1/2 clove garlic

150 g (5oz) pancetta

or bacon

1 small tin tomatoes

1 tbs passata

1 red chilli

or dried chilli

(to taste)

100 g (about 4 oz) Pecorino

or Parmesan cheese 

400 g ( 14 oz) pasta (penne or bucatini)

PS: If I was cooking this dish in Italy
using guanciale, I might omit onion and garlic
and just use guanciale, oil, tomatoes
and lots of Pecorino cheese!

The recipe is easy and the sauce only takes twenty minutes to execute! Before you start cooking, as always, cut your onion into smallish cubes, chop your tiny piece of garlic into even smaller pieces and finally, if you are using a piece of bacon, cut it into thin longish strips ( 3 cm, just over 1 inch) And don't forget the chili pepper! I like to slice mine across, because it looks so pretty. Unfortunately, the chili I bought today wasn't very hot, so I had to add some of the peppers I grew and dried in Italy!

my chillies were also used to garnish an antipasto of

sundried tomatoes and delicious artichokes in olive oil

You should now be ready to cook (don't forget to open your can of tomatoes!)

Put the olive oil in a pan. When really hot, add your onion and garlic, stir for a few seconds, then add your pancetta (or bacon.) Stir well with a wooden spoon and cook until the everything looks golden. Next you need to add your chillies, then the tinned tomatoes. With the help of a fork, squash the tomatoes, so they resemble a pulp, otherwise the will stay whole and will not make a sauce! I added a small quantity of passata, as my tinned tomatoes were a bit watery.

 

pancetta sizzling in the pan

This is all you need to do. Add some salt and just wait... lower the heat and let your Amatriciana cook for about 15-20 minutes. When the sauce is ready, you will know, as your kitchen will smell delicious!

In pan full of salted water, cook your pasta (you put the pasta in the salted water when this is really bubbling up, not earlier, or you'll make glue) according to the instructions on the packet, or until "al dente." Overcooked pasta is not edible!

When your pasta is done, drain it, then pour into the pan, with the sauce, and mix, adding most of the lovely Pecorino cheese, as you mix. I tore a few basil leaves into my pasta, for colour, but I have to say that I liked the subtle hint of fresh aroma of the basil.

My Penne all'Amatriciana is ready!

 When you serve your pasta, sprinkle more cheese on each serving. You'll love it! If you can get hold of "BUCATINI" (the ideal pasta shape for this dish) you'll be very lucky indeed!