🍝 Amatriciana

Amatriciana is a pasta sauce from the Amatrice area in Lazio, made of guanciale, tomato and extra virgin olive oil, with white wine, salt and chilli and/or pepper; grated pecorino is recommended for finishing the plate. The name 'Amatriciana Tradizionale' has been entered in the EU register of Traditional Specialities Guaranteed (Regulation (EU) 2020/395 of 6 March 2020) in the category of ready meals.

The specification gives the mandatory ingredients as shares of the finished sauce: guanciale of the Amatriciano type 18–30% (from fresh pig cheek, cured at least 30 days from salting); extra virgin olive oil 0.5–1%; tomato passata and/or peeled chopped tomatoes 69–81%; salt, white wine and dried or fresh chilli and/or pepper as needed. Grated Amatriciano-type pecorino or Pecorino Romano PDO from Lazio is recommended. The specification states that, unlike similar sauces, Amatriciana Tradizionale uses no garlic, onion or pancetta.

For the sauce for immediate use, guanciale cut into strips and cleaned of rind is browned in olive oil over low heat until its foam is gone; white wine is added, and when the strips turn golden-yellow they are set aside. Tomato, salt and chilli and/or pepper go into the same pan and cook over high heat for 10–20 minutes from the start of boiling until creamy; the guanciale returns for another 5–10 minutes. The sauce for deferred use is made the same way, then packed in sealed food containers of up to 5 kg and heat-treated; it may be frozen, and its fat content must be at least 15 g per 100 g.

According to the specification, the dish comes from the Monti della Laga, where shepherds on transhumance (4–5 months, usually May to September) carried guanciale and flour. Tomato came into use at the start of the 1800s in Amatrice, which had belonged to the Kingdom of Naples since the 13th century, and people from Amatrice who worked in catering in Rome spread the sauce in the 19th century. It names spaghetti or bucatini as the traditional pasta, and also short pasta.