Of course I know this recipe is boring for most of you, as you all know how to do it. Anyway for me it was the first time that I had all classic ingredients at my side. Guanciale, bucantini and pecorino romano, as Guanciale is not easy to find.
http://www.wineberserkers.com/content/?p=3834
ENJOY
Martin
Scary, was just thinking about this and was going to look up a recipe today.
Made Rigatoni all’Amatriciana last night using a seasoning (spices) we bought at Campo di Fiori market in Rome recently. Came out great!
Will have to try this recipe!
I have been wanting to make this ever since the earthquake. I ordered guanciale online and got a hard lump, actually 2 hard lumps. I gave the smaller one to my tenants in turn for a taste of what they made, and the guanciale was cut too thick so there were very hard little lumps in the dish. After reflection (this says a lot about my approach to food) I ordered an $80 slicer, like the ones in the deli but smaller, and sliced my guanciale thin like bacon. I thought the dish was spectacular, I followed Mario Batali’s recipe (“simple” tomato sauce with a ton of fresh thyme) but my wife was put off by the funkiness of the guanciale. Later I made it again with bacon and pancetta, I liked it nearly as much but the wife said she didn’t think it was worth the effort.
I am interested in trying the American guanciale from la Quercia – I have loved everything I have bought from them. Bucatini is a little hard to find here but I know a couple of places where I can buy it. It’s fun, it’s like a graden hose, you can’t put it where you want it, it whips around and sprays tomato sauce on your sweater! But the texture in the mouth is just lovely and perfect for the sauce.
Batali says that guanciale and bucatini are the perfect choice for Carbonara as well and I really want to do that some time soon. The problem is that you are supposed to keep ALL the grease to make the sauce have the right creamy texture – in Amatriciana you pour most of it off before adding the tomato sauce.
I’m never disappointed when I take the effort to make a classic Italian dish in the classic Italian way! Yum!
Thanks for the inspiration, Martin. Always enjoy your contributions here.