20-Minute Italian - Posted by Michael Fomkin

Bucatini all'Amatriciana: This zesty pancetta and tomato sauce is commonly associated with Lazio and Rome, but is actually from the town of Amatrice, which was just over the border into the Abruzzo before Mussolini redrew the maps. To serve 4 you'll need:
INGREDIENTS:
1 pound bucatini or thick stranded spaghetti
1/4 pound (100 g) pancetta or guanciale, diced
1/4 pound (100 g) ripe tomatoes, blanched, peeled, seeded and chopped
Half an onion, minced
A hot pepper, seeded and shredded (or leave it whole if you want to remove it)
1/2 cup olive oil
An abundance (a cup) of freshly grated Pecorino Romano
PREPARATION:
Set the pasta water to heat, salt it when it boils, and cook the pasta. While this is happening, heat the oil in a skillet, add the diced meat, and cook until it browns, stirring the pieces about. Remove them to a sheet of absorbent paper with a slotted spoon and keep them warm.
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Use the onion to the grease in the pan, together with the hot pepper, and when it begins to color add the tomato pieces, which should be well drained. Cook, stirring, for 5-6 minutes, then return the diced pancetta to the pot and heat it through. Drain the pasta while it's still a little al dente, turn it into the skillet with the sauce, cook a minute more more, stirring the pasta to coat the strands, and serve, with grated pecorino. A note: The Amatriciana sauce derives from a much older sauce called La Gricia, which the shepherds used to make by sauteing diced guanciale (cured pork jowl; in its absence use pancetta, as above) so gently as to keep it from browning, and adding freshly boiled pasta, a healthy dusting of pepper, and grated pecorino Romano. The Amatriciana sauce, with tomatoes, was initially enjoyed by the nobility, because only they could afford tomatoes.