Why AMATRICIANA is the KING of the 4 Roman Pastas

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Rigatoni Amatriciana is The King of the 4 roman pastas and I made it before here but that was a long time ago but me now, 2024 Steve does not approve of the method. I’ve since had it all over Rome and it might be a contender for greatest pasta. With tomatoes it’s lighter than the other roman pastas, it’s healthier than those that rely solely on pork fat, cheese or egg, and visually and emotionally, it’s the most comforting of the 4, at least for me. But to make it right, you’re gonna need to get your hands on real guanciale. One of the silver linings of Covid was a thing called the Pact for Export, created by the Italian government to promote local businesses. So now, it’s more available than it used to be and if not locally, available online here.

Guanciale FromSuperMarket Italy
Maestri Guanciale Italiano, 8 oz [Pack of 3]

RECIPE:
Authentic Rigatoni Amatriciana Exactly as They Do In Rome
https://www.notanothercookingshow.tv/post/Authentic-Rigatoni-Amatriciana
(Website Design by: https://www.kristasdesignstudio.com/ )

Raton matash Shana is the king of the four Roman pastas and I made it before on this channel but that was a long time ago and me now 2024 Steve does not approve of the method I’ve since had this dish all over Rome and it has become my absolute love affair and it’s up there potentially for me as the greatest pasta there ever was but before we get into what’s changed we first need to talk Tomatoes now I think this is the king of the Roman pastas for many reasons one of which is that it’s an evolution of the oldest of the four Roman pastas alagia and it was only made possible once tomatoes and American thing were introduced to Italy around the 1500 and here are some AI generated images to represent that moment alaga just being pecorino Guan chal and black pepper once Tomatoes came into the picture that got added to aliga to get a Matana for good of Matana I like to food mill my tomatoes which just removes the seeds if there’s any skins on your Tomatoes it removes that and some of the pulp and what you get is a really smooth beautiful consistency of a puree tomato and this is the only one of the four Roman pastas that includes the tomato and if you don’t know what I’m talking about when I’m talking about the four Roman pastas there are these four pastas in Rome that you may have heard about that form an essential part of Rome’s culinary identity and history and they’re all connected and to remember which is which here’s a visual I hope you may never forget On this man’s arm at the top you’ll see the most basic of the four kacho Pepe peino cheese and pepper which evolved as a staple for Roman Shepherds once you had Guan chal or cured pork gel now you have pastal aishia the oldest of the four Roman pastas and in my opinion the most underrated now if you add egg to alagia you get pasta alak carbonara which was introduced in the mid 20th century around World War II and if you add tomato instead of the egg then you get a Matana and they all usually include fresh cracked black pepper and the ingredients used in the four Roman pastas for this connective tissue between the pasta and Rome itself and one of those ingredients is Guan chal and we need to dice it into whatever size you like some like it thin I like it on a chunkier side I like a little meat to this dish so you cut it how you like but we do need to remove the outside of the Guan chal basically just like cure it in this black pepper rub and it’s just a little too tough to eat so I’ll cut off the pepper crust and then I’ll cut it into three slabs and then line them up and cut those into thick cubes or long dones and remember each of these pieces is made up of about 50% fat and 50% meat sometimes even more fat so they will shrink by about half when they cook so keep that in mind when you’re determining the size and shape of your gual now what has changed since I last made matash Shana on this channel as I said it’s a bit outdated to the point where even fellow YouTubers are using it as an example of an inauthentic a Matana no shaded Alex I respect him and I’m a big fan of his channel and he was right for calling it out but it was taken out of context at the time I used Panetta instead of Guan chal because that was years ago and access to good Guan chal was not that readily available even here in New York but actually since CO as a result of a thing called the packed for export an effort to support local Italian businesses by the Italian government suddenly good Guan chal arrived in the stores around me you can go on the internet even if something’s not available to you locally and get this exact same Guan chal I’ll leave links down in the description but I’ve traveled the world tasting real amatan with real Guan chal there’s simply no substitute for gual in this recipe or any of the four Roman pastas and that’s coming from somebody who used to make it differently and the other classic ingredient in the four Roman pastas is pecino Roman sheep’s milk cheese Roman Shepherds get it and this is saltier so this plus the Guan chal we’re going to have to consider how much we salt the pasta water and the tomato so I’m going to grate the peino like snow on this little diamond shaped grater I got here and you can grate cheese on top of this but I find this almost powdered cheese is way better and it’s how most of the places in Italy I found Ser it like snow and always remember if you get that pregrated now while for the other Roman pastas I would suggest a good dried spaghetti for the best experience for this not only do I prefer rigatoni I prefer fresh if you can get your hands on it that’s always been my best experience in Rome when I’ve had this dish and there are variations to this recipe but the best ones I’ve had stuck with rigatoni tomato Pata or puree Guan chal pecino Romano cheese and a little black pepper at the end but before we get into making a Matana I try to teach good habits on this show but we all have bad habits and some of them can be harmful to your body but thanks to our sponsor today fume I now have something that can replace a bad habit with a good habit fume is a flavored air device that stimulates that harmful hand-to mouth bad oral fixation many struggle with and replaces it with a good habit and it’s not a vape so it can be used anywhere it has no nicotine so it’s not addictive no toxins no batteries and even a little fidget thing attached now flavored air is not like vaping imagine Vapor like a sticky soda and fume cores more like an herbal tea the cores are infused with natural plants and offer good flavors like crisp mint and orange vanilla but my favorite is the maple Pepper when I have to sit and edit for long long periods of time having this thing within Arms Reach is a real godsend really gives you that little kick in the back of the throat that kind of fools you into thinking it’s the real thing and with over 300,000 happy customers you could be the next one to rid yourself of bad habits and I’ve got a special offer for you for a limited time when you use my code nacs you’re going to get a free fume base when you order the journey pack it’s the allnew magnetic stand for your fume device so you never have to worry about it rolling all over your desk head to tume.is or just scan the QR code on the screen right now and get your free fume base when you order the journey pack today now let’s get back into a Matan so while a pot of water gets to the boil in a cold pan we’re going to add the Guan chal then we’re going to turn the heat on and then we’re going to slowly render out the fat and brown the Guan chal and instantly when you get that Aroma that smell is that Irreplaceable quality quality of Guan chal we’re just going to cook the guali until the fat begins to seep out of it into the pan and once there’s enough of it to pull in one of the corners of the pan tip the pan and just sort of start to fry the Guan chal in its own fat rendering out that fat crisping it up and Browning the meat of the Guan chal and once most of that Fat’s rendered out and the Guan chal is crisp remove it from the pan but keep the fat in there instead of olive oil garlic and basil the Guan chal fat is the thing in this dish that flavors is the tomato sauce then we go straight in with the tomatoes bring that up to a simmer and then we just want to let that cook for about 15 minutes just to reduce it to the right texture we want to reduce out any moisture that’s going to make this tomato sauce watery and we’re going to season everything lightly cuz the ingredients are salty and once it’s nice and thick then we can drop in the pasta and the pasta will take about 2 to 3 minutes because it’s fresh if you’re making dry remove the pasta 2 minutes before the package says to and finish it in the sauce just when our rotoni is slightly under out Dente I’m going to remove it from the water and transfer it into the tomato sauce and marry the sauce and the pasta together for the last few minutes of cooking stir it around that sauce and starch will combine and continue to thicken Until It Coats that pasta and then once it does we can kill the heat on the whole thing allow that pasta to cool down for about 30 seconds and then we can begin to work in the grated peino melting that into the tomato sauce and then you’re ready to served we’re just going to plate a mound of that beautiful pasta topped with the Guan chal finished with pecino and black pepper and that brings us to another reason why this is King is just such a more balanced flavor the rich Guan chal the sharp peino the sweet acidity of the tomatoes it’s a much more harmonious flavor profile than the heavier cheesier Centric Roman pastas and because of the tomatoes it’s lighter it’s healthier than those that rely just on the cheese the pork and the Egg this pasta is magical and really the last and most important reason why this is King is just visually and emotionally this is a comforting dish Roni soaked in red sauce is my ultimate comfort food contrasted with that gold and Guan chal and just dusted on top with some of that peino and black pepper from a visual standpoint there’s nothing more appetizing to me and you need that Guan chali that Guan chal is what gives this quick 10 15 minute tomato sauce the flavor of a sunde sauce that’s been cooked for hours this is a brilliant dis dish that if you keep some of this on hand this could be a weekly dish in your rotation recipe is going to be down in the description that’s all that I have today I’ll see you next time until then take care of yourself and go feed yourself [Music]