{"id":9170,"date":"2020-11-04T15:43:47","date_gmt":"2020-11-04T15:43:47","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/unochefpergaia.it\/?p=9170"},"modified":"2023-04-07T09:26:05","modified_gmt":"2023-04-07T09:26:05","slug":"unamatriciana-da-manuale","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/unochefpergaia.it\/en\/unamatriciana-da-manuale\/","title":{"rendered":"The perfect Amatriciana"},"content":{"rendered":"

Do we really know where this dish comes from and how to prepare a Perfect Amatriciana<\/strong>?<\/p>\n

\"Pronta<\/a>

Ready to cook online from my kitchen<\/p><\/div>\n

Discovering Amatriciana<\/strong><\/span><\/h1>\n

Although the fame of Amatriciana sauce is linked to the city of Rome<\/strong>, its true cradle lies in the heart of our country. If you were to take a compass and place it in the centre of Italy, its point would probably end in Rieti, the easternmost city in Lazio between Umbria and Abruzzo, which gathers gastronomic traditions and extraordinary products from all these regions, and in whose province the city of Amatrice<\/strong> is located.<\/p>\n

And it is from Rieti<\/strong> that the virtual journey in which I participated together with other bloggers, journalists and cooking enthusiasts began. Since we could not physically go there due to Covid restrictions, the Rieti Chamber of Commerce thought of making the products travel and sent us the kits<\/a> containing the ingredients to prepare some traditional local recipes, more or less well-known outside their province of origin.<\/p>\n

For our journey, from every region of Italy we went online armed with equipment, ingredients and a lot of curiosity. As good and diligent students, we listened to find out where the products we had received came from and how we should use them in our recipes, guided step by step by a local chef.<\/p>\n

The perfect Amatriciana<\/strong><\/span><\/h2>\n

First gastronomic encounter of the trip: Gricia and Amatriciana. Having to choose which of the two recipes to cook live, at my place they overwhelmingly opted for Amatriciana… and we didn’t regret it! This is how I find out that Amatriciana is a Traditional Speciality Guaranteed regulated by Specifications<\/strong><\/a> where, I must admit, some ingredients are a surprise. In fact, in addition to the ever-present guanciale<\/strong> (mind you, not pancetta!), extra virgin olive oil and <\/strong>\u00a0tomato<\/strong> sauce or peeled tomatoes<\/strong>, there are also white wine<\/strong> and chilli pepper<\/strong>. Naturally, the recommended ingredient is Pecorino cheese<\/strong> of the Amatriciano or Pecorino Romano DOP type.<\/p>\n

\"Io,<\/a>

Waiting to cook spaghetti all’Amatriciana live<\/p><\/div>\n

Ingredients<\/strong><\/span><\/h2>\n

Each of these ingredients tells a story. The matured pork cheek, Guanciale, tells us of the shepherds who were forced away from home for 4-5 months, usually from May to September, for the transhumance. For their sustenance, they carried some easy to store and nutritious products, such as Guanciale and flour. In an iron frying pan with a long handle, shepherds could thus cook their frugal, hearty main course: Pastasciutta (i.e. pasta), where pecorino cheese was the ingredient always available in the cool mountain pastures.<\/p>\n

And the tomato? Just think that in Italy, this much-loved fruit only met pasta in the 1800s and, in the Amatrice area, the encounter became eternal love, giving rise to one of the best-known dishes of Italian cuisine. From here, shepards arrived in Rome with the many inhabitants of the town of Amatrice who emigrated there in search of work and found it mainly in restaurants and food shops offering products from their area of origin, which soon became the symbol of cheap, popular cuisine.<\/p>\n

Which pasta shape should be cooked with Amatriciana sauce? Our precious kit contained artisan spaghetti made with Senatore Capelli wheat which we had to give up due to the presence of gluten, so we replaced them with a gluten free version accessible to the whole family. The alternative to spaghetti is definitely Bucatini, a shape that I have, however, never found on the market in a gluten free version.<\/p>\n

I must admit that this Amatriciana was indeed one of the best I have ever tasted and, given the simplicity of its preparation, it is once again confirmed that it is the ingredients that make the difference. Guanciale by Salumificio Sano<\/a>located between the Monti della Laga and Monti Sibillini National Parks, caressed our palate with the soft and fragrant crunchiness of the strips dipped in sweet tomato, but the product that really bewitched me was the mature Pecorino cheese from Azienda Agricola D’Ascenzo<\/a>a small business located in the heart of the Riserva Naturale dei Laghi Lungo e Ripasottile, a green oasis in the Rieti plain where the flock can graze freely, feeding on fresh herbs that give the cheese scents and flavours that leave their mark.<\/p>\n

So are you ready? Would you like to know how we prepared our Amatriciana?<\/p>\n

Here is the recipe!<\/p>\n

Spaghetti all’amatriciana<\/strong><\/span><\/h2>\n

26g of carbohydrates per 100g<\/u><\/strong><\/span><\/h2>\n

Ingredients for 4 servings<\/strong><\/span><\/h2>\n