Mark and I haven’t been on the same page in a while. His Wednesday Minimalist columns just haven’t tickled my culinary curiosity. And it hurt.
But this week, I’m happy to report, we reconnected through recipe ESP. Last Sunday, I bought a bowl-full of October tomatoes, destined for a pot of pasta all’Amatriciana. And in yesterday’s Minimalist column, Mr. Bittman supplied his readers a simple pasta sauce recipe that makes the most of the season’s last tomatoes. In contrast to his back-to-basics recipe, I augmented my late-season tomato sauce with lots of bacon and onions, but our hearts were in the same place!
Traditionally, pasta all’Amatriciana is prepared with guanciale (an Italian bacon made from pig cheeks), onions, tomatoes, Pecorino Romano cheese, and bucatini (long, thin, tubular pasta). The dish originated in the tiny town of Amatrice outside of Rome. And the latter, larger city is where William and I first sampled the dish on a gut-busting evening at a casual hostaria. William has since requested the dish, but his cries for bacon, tomatoes and onion have been denied until now.
Although I can get guanciale in New York, I Americanized the dish and used thick-cut bacon. If I were making this for a dinner party, I would splurge and get the real thing. For a weeknight meal, I opted for what I had on hand. I also used fresh linguine instead of bucatini—similar shape, no tube. Lastly, recipes for pasta all’Amatriciana call for canned tomatoes (here’s one from Babbo and another from Food and Wine), but using fresh tomatoes lightens the dish and gives it a new sweetness. The tomato flavor is more subtle but it tastes like real tomato—the last gasp of summer that’s been smothered in bacon.
Pasta all’Amatriciana Americana
2 pounds tomatoes
2 tablespoons olive oil
3/4 cup diced thick-cut bacon
1 onion, diced
1/4 teaspoon red pepper flakes
Salt and pepper to taste
1 pound linguine
Pecorino Romano cheese
Instructions
To prepare the tomatoes, bring a large pot of water to a low boil. Core tomatoes, and cut a shallow X into the bottom of the fruit. Place the tomatoes in the boiling water for 10 to 15 seconds. Remove the tomatoes from the water with tongs or a slotted spoon, allow them to cool, and pull off the skin. (You can omit this step if you don’t have time, but you need hot water for pasta anyway. And you can get this step going while you cook the bacon and onion.) Reserve water for cooking the pasta. Roughly dice the tomatoes, and set aside.
Heat olive oil on medium in a large frying pan. Add diced bacon, and cook until crisp. Remove bacon with a slotted spoon, leaving fat in the pan (all of it, unless you’re counting calories). Add onion and cook until browned, about 10 minutes. Sprinkle in red pepper flakes, and cook 1 minute more. Pour in tomatoes and their juices, and cook 10 to 15 minutes, until they break down and the sauce begins to thicken. Season to taste with salt and pepper.
Meanwhile, bring the pot of water back to a boil. Salt the water, and cook pasta according to package instructions.
Drain the pasta, toss with sauce, and portion into bowls. Top the pasta with bacon and grated Pecorino Romano.
Serves 4 (main course) or 6 (first course)
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