Cheater’s Pasta All’Amatriciana
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I didn’t make my first trip to Italy until I was 37.
It was worth the wait.
I went on a once-in-a-lifetime dream vacation with my mother and sister. We started out in Tuscany, where we took cooking classes, went truffle hunting with a real truffle hunter and his dogs, and toured wineries. After that, we headed down to Rome, where we ate way too much pasta and gelato, drank Negroni cocktails on rooftops, drank bottle after bottle of vino, and sipped cappuccinos.
We also toured a few ruins, hit the Vatican City, saw the Sistine Chapel, and threw coins into the breathtakingly beautiful — seriously, words cannot express — Trevi Fountain (pictured above — you may remember it from that Audrey Hepburn movie, Roman Holiday), after having drunk way too much Limoncello (thanks to the very generous proprietor of one restaurant, who couldn’t resist topping us off for free — more than a few times.)
Did I mention how much we ate? In Italy, they feed you constantly. “Mangia! Mangia!” I’ve never eaten so much in my life. As my mom said, “I didn’t have a hunger pang the entire time we were in Italy.”
When we were in Rome, I had Pasta All’Amatriciana for the first time. It was my most memorable meal in Roma. This dish hails from the Lazio region of Italy, which is where Rome is located.
If you don’t have time to break away on your own Roman Holiday anytime soon, make this pasta. It’s like a mini trip to the Eternal City. Whip up a few Negronis and you are there.
My version of Pasta All’Amatriciana is the “cheater’s version”. I modified this recipe from Chef Mario Batali’s version from his Babbo restaurant. Amatriciana sauce is traditionally made with Guanciale, or dried pork cheek. I don’t tend to keep that in the fridge, so I used good old American bacon.
I also used Parmesan instead of Romano. Again, I don’t tend to keep Romano cheese in my fridge but I always have a block of Parmesan in there. Yeah, I know, Romano is the traditional cheese with this sauce but that’s why I call it Cheater’s Pasta All’Amatriciana.
I used sprouted flour fettuccine (procured at Trader Joe’s) to make the meal more nutritious. You an use any kind of pasta, but I recommend either brown rice pasta or sprouted flour pasta.
My two-year-old loved this pasta. If you have picky eaters, this is definitely a crowd pleaser. After all, who doesn’t love bacon?
Best of all, this recipe is not only delicious — it is so easy! It’s the kind of meal you can whip up at a moment’s notice — and it’s fancy enough for a dinner party. Serve with a green salad, or an Insalate Caprese.
Cheater’s Pasta All’Amatriciana
Ingredients
1 package (12 ounces) bacon (nitrate-free) — or, if you can get it, guanciale
3 garlic cloves
1 red onion, chopped
1 1/2 teaspoons hot red pepper flakes
Sea salt and freshly ground black pepper
1 1/2 cups tomato sauce (I used the stuff in the jar from Trader Joe’s)
1 pound brown rice pasta or sprouted flour pasta
1 bunch of flat-leaf parsley leaves, chopped
Freshly grated Pecorino Romano (or, if you don’t have that, freshly grated Parmesan)
1. In a stockpot, bring 6 quarts of water to a boil, then add 2 tablespoons of salt.
2. Fry the bacon in a pan in a single layer and cook over medium heat.
3. Place the bacon on a plate.
4. Pour off about half of the bacon fat — leaving enough to coat the garlic, onion and red pepper flakes (save the extra bacon fat for another use). Return the bacon to the pan with the vegetables, and cook over medium heat for 5 minutes or so. Season with salt and pepper, add the tomato sauce, reduce the heat, and simmer for 5-10 minutes.
5. Cook the pasta in the boiling water according to the package directions, until al dente.
6. Drain the pasta and add it to the sauce with the chopped parsley leaves.
7. Serve with freshly grated Pecorino (or Parmesan) cheese.
This post is part of Tempt My Tummy Tuesdays and Real Food Wednesdays.
Photo credit: Giampaolo Macorig on Flickr
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21/07/2009 at 3:36 am Permalink
Oh my do I miss pasta. This is perhaps one of my favorite pastas – the smoky bacon, spicy red pepper and tangy tomato are so perfect over soft, but still al dente noodles. Look I just wrote an introduction to your recipe lol.
Perhaps I should try this over zucchini noodles since I am low-carbing.
I long to go to Italy too.
Shannon’s last blog post..The Benefits of Fermented Food: Dairy
21/07/2009 at 4:46 am Permalink
I went to Italy when I was ten, almost 11. Will never forget my last night in Rome before going home because some Italian guy pinched my butt on the street. (For the record, I looked much older than my age.)
In any case, I want to go back sooo very much. This recipe sounds delightful, and I think a TJ trip may soon be in order for me.
Soli’s last blog post..null
21/07/2009 at 5:47 am Permalink
No way you are over 37 years old! I saw a picture of you with Kelly (the Kitchen Kop) and you don’t even look like you’re 30 – amazing!
))
21/07/2009 at 6:59 am Permalink
Oh, this brings back memories.
My husband and I went to Italy about 5 years ago and we just ate and ate and ate. Didn’t gain any weight though. I attribute that to lots of walking, but we were eating 1, 2 and sometimes 3 gelatos a day (it’s the best). We even ate dinner at two different restaurants one night in Rome. Can’t wait to go back there some day. Thanks for the recipe. I like the Trader Joe’s sprouted pasta too!!!
21/07/2009 at 7:33 am Permalink
Thanks, Mary! I just turned 41.
21/07/2009 at 7:47 am Permalink
I went to Italy for the first time last summer (age 46) and I also “travel on my stomach”. We stayed in a Tuscan farmhouse apartment the first week so I really enjoyed cooking simple food with fresh local ingredients, especially the farm’s incredible eggs.
Ever notice that when the “Mediterranean Diet” is touted, they make it sound vegetarian, when in reality, the diets around the Mediterranean are incredibly varied and often include lots of meat and dairy? Perhaps in poorer times meat was scarce, but the traditional cuisine tells us it was very much prized, especially pork. I actually think the high level of monounsaturated fatty acids in pork fat are as much a good thing in Italian cooking as the liberal use of olive oil.
The second week we stayed in hotels in Florence and Rome, so breakfast was a real challenge for me (the morning cappuccino was fine, but the high carb pastries that were part of the provided “continental breakfast” will send my BG sky high). I made do by finding an open deli and buying a plate of salami and cheese for breakfast.
Our last night we went a bit out of our way to find a restaurant near the old stockyards of Rome where the speciality is “the fifth quarter” or offal/organ meats (within walking of Pyramide subway stop). Quite an experience. I found the recommendation from Rick Steve’s guide book. Definitely a local place, not a tourist restaurant.
Your recipe looks great, but my husband and son are not fans of red pasta sauces. I also don’t make pasta very much now that we are gluten-free (and I have to watch the starch content, too), but as a treat my husband makes Spaghetti alla Carbonara with rice pasta now and then (with lots of pancetta or bacon).
21/07/2009 at 8:54 am Permalink
I always do brown rice pasta, but I’ll have to check out this sprouted spelt pasta from TJs that you mention. I haven’t seen it there yet, though my trips to TJs can be few and far between. Thanks for the tip!
21/07/2009 at 9:06 am Permalink
i heart roma so much, i had the pleasure of going there with my mother at 18 and it was amazing! my favorite food i had while in Italy was deep-fried artichoke, oh and the lunch trays at a bustling lunch/deli restaurant were great too, complete with red or white vino in a box! it cracked me up, like the juice boxes us american kids had in our lunches only this was fermented, alcoholic juice!
also i have been enjoying TJs sprouted whole wheat pasta too. had it last night in fact with homemade kale spaghetti sauce and meatballs.
emily- mpls real food lover’s last blog post..Eat Local and Frugal for Dinner: beef short ribs, garden-fresh kale, brown rice
21/07/2009 at 8:00 pm Permalink
That sounds great!! I have a hard time finding pancetta in my neck of the woods. Glad to know I can substitute. Thanks for linking up to TMTT.
Lisa@Blessedwithgrace’s last blog post..Tempt My Tummy Tuesday….some TMTT Favorites
22/07/2009 at 8:19 am Permalink
This recipe has me drooling just from reading it. Now I need to check out Tempt my Tummy Tuesday!
22/07/2009 at 8:58 am Permalink
This recipe looks so awesome! I think I am going to borrow it to try in the next week or two.
22/07/2009 at 11:55 am Permalink
This looks so amazing! I can’t wait to try it! Thanks for sharing
22/07/2009 at 12:33 pm Permalink
This looks fantastic! I love reading Mario’s cook books, but agree that they usually need a “cheater’s version” to be concocted before you want to make them at home.
23/07/2009 at 6:58 am Permalink
That looks FANTASTIC and easy. I am about to have way too many tomaotoes in my garden, I think I will know one way to use them.
23/07/2009 at 1:21 pm Permalink
Sounds like you had a wonderful trip, and this sounds like a great recipe!
24/07/2009 at 6:26 am Permalink
I love cheese. What a great topic. I hope you’ll swing by my recipe exchange too. I shared a yummy baked flounder recipe and love collecting other inspired ideas:
http://momtrends.blogspot.com/2009/07/friday-feasts-baked-flounder.html
24/07/2009 at 10:50 pm Permalink
Mmmmm…cant wait to try this dish. There are some great pastas that I had in Sicily that had sardines in them – I now wish I had those recipes since sardines and anchovies are so great for you it seems. Off subject – can you please PLEASE tell me where you can find horseradish root and/or grape leaves….I want to give pickling cucumbers a go, but these are the secret ingredients it seems for CRUNCHY ones. Meant to ask you when I saw you at the Farmers Market last week. BTW – Matt is now attempting to sing songs, his dancing and balance have improved, and we are SO loving the GAPS. He ate lettuce today, wrapped around his bison burger patty and said mmmm crunchy – we all most fainted. Matt would NEVER touch veggies before. He remains, for now, off all vits, sups, meds, and I just found a KICK butt source of probiotic goodies if you ever need em and have no time to ferment them yourself…Bio Lactic, a french canadian co who will be at this year’s Weston Price conf in Chicago…two cases of ALL sorts of goodies and juices – $140.00 inc shipping. I know it is not cheap, but I cannot keep up with what I need, for now, as I heal this family, so for us it has been worth it. I am told that his stuff tastes AMAZING and he has quite the cult following in Canada it seems. I will let you know if it is as yummy as reported…he works in conjunction with some Canadian University bio whiz, so his probiotic foods are above and beyond. He is french Canadian, hence his stuff TASTES so great it seems… He also had nutrient breakdowns and it turns out green cabbage is more nutritious than the prettier purple kraut – FYI. Take care…thanks for any advice you can offer on sourcing the hradish root and g leaves. Di