Ingredients

(Serves 2)

Pasta

1 quantity of egg yolk pasta dough, made into spaghetti

or 300g dried spaghetti

Amatriciana

100g guanciale, cut into thin matchsticks

a pinch of dried chilli flakes

lots of freshly cracked black pepper

1 x 400g can tomato passata

1 x 400g can baby cherry tomatoes

1 cup finely grated Pecorino cheese (about 100g)

To Serve

more finely grated Pecorino cheese

Prep It

Have your freshly made spaghetti ready to go and bring a large pot, almost full of salted water to the boil. Cut guanciale into thin matchsticks and finely grate Pecorino cheese. Set both aside.

Cook It

Heat a small drizzle of oil in a large fry-pan on medium-high heat. Add guanciale and cook for about 5 minutes stirring often, until very golden brown and crispy. Add chilli flakes and freshly crack lots of pepper into the pan. Stir and add both cans of tomatoes and a pinch of salt. Don’t remove any of the fat from the pan, this gives the sauce the best flavour!

Bring to a simmer, reduce heat to medium and cook for about 15 minutes, until thick and reduced by about half. Stir occasionally.

When sauce has finished add fresh pasta to boiling water and cook for 2 minutes (or dried pasta and cook 2 minutes less than pack instructions call for). Use tongs to transfer pasta straight from the pot to the sauce as well as a half cup of the pasta water and stir well. Cook on medium heat for about 2 minutes, until pasta is al dente and the sauce clings to the pasta.

Remove from heat and stir through the finely grated Pecorino cheese and more cracked pepper.

Eat It

Served with lots of finely grated Pecorino cheese.