Spaghetti all’Amatriciana
An easy, but thoroughly delicious, rich pasta dish
10 mins
30 mins
357 kcals
serves 4
SPAGHETTI ALL’AMATRICIANA
I just love Italy- the food, the places, the people- it’s a dream destination for me. We travelled to Umbria a couple of years ago at the end of the summer holidays- we didn’t have a big budget so we found the cheapest flights that we could (they were to Milan, I wouldn’t recommend that drive!), and then rented a cheap but beautiful little villa via Air B&B in deepest Umbria- it was idyllic, we had fresh herbs in the garden, figs growing in the grounds of the complex- we stocked up on wine and pasta and the girls were in 7th heaven because there was a lovely pool!
Anyway, one of the best know Umbrian dishes is Spaghetti all’Amatriciana, I was dying to try one while I was out there but somehow I just didn’t get the opportunity. So my version is my own British interpretation of the dish- the Italians might shudder at my addition of worcestershire sauce, but I think it works really well so it is staying!
spaghetti-allamatriciana
Ingredients
- 150 g lean bacon medallions finely chopped, or lean bacon lardons
- 1 onion cut in half and finely sliced into half moon shapes
- 2 cloves garlic finely chopped
- 1 tin chopped tomatoes
- 1 tbsp tomato puree
- 1/2 tsp dried chilli flakes
- 1 tbsp Worcestershire sauce
- Frylight
- freshly ground black pepper
- 300 g dried spaghetti
- parsley to garnish
Instructions
- Spray a deep frying pan with Frylight or spray oil, and fry the bacon for 2-3 minutes.
- Add the onion and garlic, and fry gently for 5 minutes, until the onion is soft. (Stir every now and again)
- Add in the tin of chopped tomatoes, stir in the tomato puree and add the chilli flakes and Worcestershire sauce and simmer for approximately 25 minutes, stirring occasionally
- In the meantime cook the spaghetti to al dente
- Drain the spaghetti. reserving a little of the cooking water, pop it back into the pan and spoon in the sauce, stirring to fully coat the spaghetti, and adding a little of the cooking water if it needs loosening a little
- Season with plenty of black pepper, and serve sprinkled generously with chopped fresh parsley
