Bucatini all'Amatriciana II

Description

 * 4 servings

Ingredients

 * 320 g [11 oz] bucatini (thick hollow spaghetti)
 * 300 g [10 oz] tinned [canned] diced tomatoes
 * 100 g [3 1 oz] guanciale (cured hog jowl and cheek � if unavailable
 * substitute pancetta or unsmoked bacon)
 * 50 g [2 oz] grated well-aged Pecorino (hard cheese made from ewe�s milk)
 * 2 tbsp oil
 * 1 pinch of hot chilli pepper
 * salt
 * freshly ground pepper

Directions

 * 1) Cut the guanciale into cubes and brown in oil in a pan, on a medium-high flame, for 4-5 minutes.
 * 2) When thoroughly browned, remove from the pan and reserve.
 * 3) Pour the tomatoes into the pan � with the oil used to brown the meat � season with salt and pepper and cook for 10-15 minutes.
 * 4) In the meantime, cook the pasta in boiling salted water. Drain when still rather "al dente", place in a large bowl and mix with the sauce.
 * 5) Finish off with the guanciale, plenty of grated cheese and the chilli pepper. Mix and serve.
 * 6) For a tastier alternative, you can cook the guanciale with the tomatoes and flavour the sauce with 1 glass white wine.
 * 7) Otherwise, you can fry the guanciale, remove it from the pan, fry a chopped onion in the oil and then add the tomatoes.
 * 8) In fact there are many variations on this recipe, which has become a classic in Italian cuisine.
 * 9) However, it must be said that the real "amatriciana" should not include tomato, but should only be made with guanciale, browned and seasoned with a piece of chilli pepper.
 * 10) This recipe gets its name from Amatrice, the town in the province of Rieti where it was created.