Bucatini amatriciana – all you need to know

Amatriciana and carbonara, you can’t not appreciate Roman cuisine! Both of these recipes can involve various types of pasta including bucatini, which originated in Naples. Bucatini are most famous for amatriciana; they are a type of pasta with a full-bodied texture designed to hold the sauce.

Fun fact about bucatini

The name bucatini comes from Italian: buco, meaning “hole”, while bucato means “pierced”. The hollow center in bucatini allows it to be fully coated and filled with sauce, letting bold, flavorful sauces shine.

Returning to the amatriciana, there are multiple theories about the origin of the dish: some say that amatriciana is nothing more than an evolution of Gricia, with  the addition of tomato that occurred in the late 1600s.

Another legend, however, the most credited, explains that amatriciana originated in Amatrice (the town from which it takes its name). It is said that in this small town in the province of Rieti, a lady named Anna De Angelis prepared, for people passing through the station area, a very first version of Amatriciana, using the few ingredients she had on hand. The dish immediately won the palate of the townspeople, to the point that it reached as far as Rome.

Best recipe with bucatini

Here you can find the best recipe with bucatini: Amatriciana (serves: 4-5).

Ingredients:

• 1 teaspoon olive oil
• 350 gr Guanciale 
• 1 onion (finely chopped)
• 1 clove garlic (finely chopped)
• 1 dried chilli (seeded and finely chopped)
• 100 millilitres red wine
• 1 tin peeled tomatoes (450g)
• 400 gr bucatini
• 6 tablespoons mature pecorino (grated)
• sea salt (to taste)
• ground pepper (to taste)
• parmigiano reggiano cheese (grated to serve)

First of all heat the oil in a frying pan large enough to contain the cooked pasta later and, when hot, throw in the guanciale and fry until crisp. Then remove it into a plate and add the onion to the pan with the garlic, chilli and also the wine. Pour in the chopped tomatoes and cook on moderate heat for about 20-25 minutes.

Cook the bucatini in plenty of salted water as usual. Drain thoroughly, giving the colander a few sharp shakes so that the water strapped in the holes of the bucatini comes out. Slide the pasta into the frying pan, add the pancetta and stir-fry for about 2 minutes, turning the bucatini over and over with 2 forks. Serve straight from the pan with Parmesan handed round.

Enjoy your meal!

If you want to cook amatriciana by yourself and you are not in Italy, order all the ingredients on Vico Food Box.