The amatricana sauce is originally from the Italian city Amatrice. It seems that the shepherds of this region created it by combining classic ingredients that are within everyone’s reach, such as bacon, tomato and dry pasta. That is why this sauce is part of what is known as cucina povera or poor cuisine. This term refers to the wide variety of recipes created in Italy from the 19th century until after World War II.
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Along with carbonara sauce, it is one of the most typical and classic sauces in Italian cuisine. However, the amatricana sauce was born later thanks to the arrival of the tomato in Europe in the 18th century. Keep reading and discover how to make rigatoni with amatriciana sauce.
Ingredients to make Rigatoni with amatriciana sauce:
- 210 grams of rigatoni
- 3 slices of smoked bacon
- 200 cubic centimeters of tomato sauce
- 1 onion
- 30 grams of grated cheese (optional)
How to make Rigatoni with amatriciana sauce:
- As the first step in this recipe, remove the string or fat from the bacon. Chop it and sauté it in a pan without oil over high heat. Here we seek to brown it to make it crunchy and bring out its flavor, as well as create a fatty base to sauté the onions.
- Once golden, add the chopped onion and lower the heat to medium. When the onion has browned, add 1 tablespoon of hot water, and when it evaporates, add 1 tablespoon more. Repeat this procedure as many times as you want. The more times you repeat it, the sweeter the onion will be.
- When you have achieved the desired cooking point of the onion, add the tomato sauce and reduce the heat to a minimum. Cover the amatricana sauce and cook it for 10 minutes.
- You can use crushed or diced canned tomatoes, although you could do it at home. To do this, wash and cut a cross at the base of 4 plum tomatoes. Take them to a saucepan with boiling water for 2 minutes. Remove them and, being careful not to burn yourself, peel them. Cut them into cubes and take them to the pan with the onion and bacon.
- Meanwhile, cook the rigatoni pasta in plenty of boiling water for 7-10 minutes according to your taste. Strain and, if desired, add them to the pan to cook the rigatoni with the amatricana sauce.
- Serve the rigatoni with amatricana sauce immediately to enjoy warm. If you like, you can top them with grated cheese and eat!
