Bucatini all’Amatriciana (Pasta with Guanciale and Tomatoes)

It’s a mouth-watering dish that’s ready in thirty minutes!  Bucatini all’Amatriciana (or Pasta with Guanciale and Tomatoes) will give you pasta luxuriously coated with a sauce that’s slightly sweet, buttery, and undeniably creamy.  Perfect for weeknight dinners!

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A classic pasta dish from the town of Amatrice in Lazio, bucatini all’Amatriciana is a perfect example of what Italian cuisine is all about.

It’s an unbelievably flavor-packed dish from minimal, excellent ingredients — in this case, its guanciale, tomatoes, and pecorino Romano.

If you haven’t cooked with guanciale before, bucatini all’Amatriciana will show you how uniquely delicious this Italian cured meat is.  

So, start gathering your ingredients now. 🙂

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Ingredients

• Pasta – as you can see from the image above, I use bucatini for this pasta all’Amatriciana recipe.

If you cannot find bucatini, spaghetti would be great as well.

• Guanciale – cured pork jowl (cheek) cut into small bits.

• Onion – a small onion and sliced finely.

• White wine – any dry white wine will be great for this Amatriciana sauce recipe.

• Tomatoes – I use cherry tomatoes for this recipe, but regular tomato would also be good.

• Seasoning – salt and peperoncino (or chili flakes).

• Pecorino Romano – to keep it traditional, use freshly grated pecorino Romano when serving your bucatini all’Amatriciana.

Preparation

Start preparing your bucatini all’Amatriciana by boiling salted water on a large pot.

As soon as the water is ready, cook the pasta as per package instructions.

While the pasta is cooking, place a large pan over medium-high heat.

Add the cured pork cheek into the cold pan (photo 1).

Cook guanciale until the meat becomes brown; the fat should start looking transparent (photo 2).

Add the chopped onion (photo 3).

Cook until the onion becomes soft.

Pour the wine (photo 4).

Leave uncovered and let the wine evaporate.

Add the tomatoes, salt, and peperoncino (photo 5).

Mix, cover with a lid and simmer for a few minutes until the juices come out.

By this time, the pasta should be ready, so add it directly into the Amatriciana sauce.

Mix, take the pan off the heat, and transfer into serving plates.

Garnish your bucatini all’Amatriciana with freshly grated pecorino Romano and enjoy!

Helpful tips

• You can chop the cured pork cheek into bigger pieces if you prefer; just give it enough time to brown the edges before adding the wine.

• Do not add too much salt at once.  Keep in mind that the cured pork is already salty, plus if you’re adding some pasta water, there’s additional salt in there.

• Add some pasta water if you think your bucatini all’Amatriciana is a bit dry after adding the cooked pasta.

Recipe variation

• Canned tomatoes.  You can use whole tomatoes in a can if you cannot find good fresh ones.

Just use your hands to break (smash) them before adding them to the Amatriciana sauce.

• Pancetta. If cured pork cheek is hard to find in your area, you can use pancetta instead — it is an excellent substitute for guanciale. 

• Herbs. If you want to add some herbs, flat-leaf parsley or fresh basil would be excellent for bucatini all’Amatriciana.

• No onion, no peperoncino.  I have also tried some versions within the region that do not add onion or peperoncino — and I personally prefer having them in sugo all’Amatriciana, hence this recipe. 

But feel free to skip them if you want to see which version you prefer. 🙂

Looks absolutely delicious right? So, find out for yourself and try this bucatini all’Amatriciana recipe one of these nights!