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spaghetti all'amatriciana |
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Tuesday, 16 October 2007 |
spaghetti all'amatriciana
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Every household needs a fallback pasta dish and this is ours. Served all over Rome, it’s kind of a carbonara with tomato sauce instead of eggs. There they use fancy guanciale, but here I use good old American bacon and, like everything made with bacon, it is positively addictive. Please don’t cheat and use cheap parmesan; real Parmigiano is essential to the taste. This recipe easily doubles (use just one large onion).
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serves 4 (first course)
serves 2 (main dish)
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prep time: 5 minutes |
cook time: 15 minutes |
2 slices thick (butcher) bacon
2 tablespoons olive oil
1 small yellow onion, chopped
1/4 cup white wine or dry vermouth
Red pepper flakes
14-ounce can chopped tomatoes
8 ounces spaghetti or linguine or bucatini
Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese
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Put a big pot of salted water on to boil. Stack the bacon and cut it in half crosswise, then in half lengthwise, then across the pieces into dice. In a medium frying or saute pan, warm the olive oil and add the onion; cook over medium-high heat until onion softens. Add bacon and cook, stirring, until bacon is cooked through but not crisp; drain off fat if desired. Add the wine or vermouth and a pinch of red pepper flakes and let alcohol boil off. Stir in the tomatoes.
Add the pasta to the boiling water, stir to untangle the noodles, then boil until al dente (8 to 11 minutes). While the pasta is cooking, keep stirring the tomato sauce so that most of the juices evaporate. Keep it cooking right until the pasta is ready, then drain pasta, and put it in the pan with the sauce; with tongs, toss and turn pasta until coated with sauce. Serve immediately in warmed pasta bowls. Grate lots of cheese over each portion.
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| To make this a complete meal: whip up a Sort-of Caesar Salad to go alongside: torn pieces of romaine lettuce dressed with lemon juice, olive oil, salt, and a few drops of Worcestershire Sauce (it stands in for the anchovies). Toss in lots of garlic croutons and grated Parmigiano. Don’t forget a couple of glasses of red wine; pasta is a sad thing without wine. |
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