Spaghetti all'Amatriciana

My Grandad on my father's side was from Amatrice, so in his memory, my first recipe written on this blog will be, without doubt, The "Spaghetti alla Amatriciana”.

Amatrice is a mountain village situated at the regional border of Lazio and Abruzzo about 80 miles northeast of Rome. On the third Sunday of every August, “Spaghetti all'Amatriciana” is served with great fanfare at local celebrations.

I think everybody that loves Italian food should have discovered the taste of this famous dish

It is made with simple, natural and nutritious ingredients and has a dainty and appetising taste.

A piece of advice from the chef… to make it properly, never substitute, add or take out any ingredient or it will be “your version of", but not the authentic recipe.

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Serves 4.

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· 500g (1lb 3/2 oz) Pasta Spaghetti, Bucatini or rigatoni.

· 100g (3 ½ oz) Guanciale fat pork cheek cut in thick cubes.

· 500g (1lb 3/2 oz) fresh S. Marzano tomatoes (long tomatoes give sweeter taste) or one tin of peeled tomatoes to make the sauce.

· 100g (3 ½ oz) grated Pecorino cheese not too salty (from Amatrice).

· 1 spoon Extra Virgin Olive Oil.

· ½ glass of white dry wine.

· a pinch of chilli peppers (not too much - approx 1/4 tsp of seeds)

· Salt as needed.

Peel, seed and cut the fresh San Marzano tomatoes into thin slices; to make the peeling easier, put them first in to a pot of boiling water and then in to some ice cold water.
If you are using tinned tomatoes, follow the same directions.
Cut the guanciale into thick cubes and put them in to an iron frying pan with extra virgin olive oil and a pinch of chilli peppers; keep on cooking on a high flame for a few minutes until the ingreadients become lightly browned.
Add a little wine and keep the flame high for 2 minutes to burn off the alcohol.

Add the tomatoes, salt them and continue to cook on a medium flame for 5-8 minutes to amalgamate the flavours and create the perfect sauce consistency.

When the sauce is ready, turn off the flame and stir in 1/2 the pecorino to the sauce. The other half should be sprinkled on top of the dish when served.

Meanwhile boil the water in a separate large pot. When the water is boiling, add the pasta.

It is very important with any italian meal to always cook the pasta "al dente". (This generally means one or two minutes less than the time written on the pasta packet).

When your rigatoni, spaghetti or bucatini pasta is cooked to the right consistency 'al dente', drain and add it to the sauce in the frying pan. It is a vital part of the process to gently cook and toss the pasta with the sauce for around a minute after it has been drained, as this allows the pasta to absorb all the flavours from the pan.

Place the pasta in to a deep bowl and sprinkle the rest of your pecorino cheese over the pasta.

serve immediately.