IN HONOR OF SOUTH CAROLINA’S NEW PARISH OF BLESSED PIER GIORGIO FRASSATI, I MADE AUTHENTIC RIGATONI ALL’AMATRICIANA FOR SUPER PASTA BOWL SUNDAY!

 

Rigatoni all'Amatriciana

I make it the ancient way that it is made in the Amatriciana region of Italy. There are variations on this in other regions of Italy and of course Italian American cooking completely screws it up!

There are only four main ingredients: Whole canned tomatoes, pancetta (guanciale is recommended, but I couldn’t find any here on Hilton Head—the “pillow” or cheek of the pig) which is pork belly, Rigatoni, although Bucatini is more often used, pecorino Romano cheese and some Parmigiana. I add red pepper flakes to give it a minor kick. And that is it.

I cook the pancetta down. I like the way this is in small cubes. Italians like it cut in larger sizes, but I don’t like how that feels in my mouth. I also rend the fat out of it and then add the whole tomatoes. As you can see, I bought the best kind of Italian canned tomatoes from my region of Naples:

After the pasta is cooked al dente, I place it in the cooking whole tomatoes flavored only with the pancetta and red pepper flakes, no other oil or ingredients. 

I continue to stir it on high heat and add some pasta water as it cooks down and the tomato sauce become like “pasta sciutta” meaning the pasta sauce is thick and not runny and sticks to the pasta inside and out. 

Once it is at the right consistency, I remove it from the stove and add the Romano Pecorino and stir it in thoroughly. Then I plate it and add some parmigiana. 

So good!

So good and so me!