Pasta All'Amatriciana

By CBarile

Grace Parisi's spicy, pancetta-studded sauce is classically served with buccatini, a hollow, spaghetti-like pasta.

Ingredients

• 1/4 cup extra-virgin olive oil
• 3 garlic cloves, halved
• 3 ounces thickly sliced pancetta, finely diced
• 1/2 teaspoon crushed red pepper
• 1 tablespoon tomato paste
• One 35-ounce can whole peeled Italian tomatoes
• Salt and freshly ground pepper
• Pinch of sugar
• 2 basil sprigs
• 1 pound spaghetti

Details

Servings 4
Preparation time 30mins
Cooking time 31mins

Preparation

Step 1

In a large saucepan, heat the olive oil. Add the garlic, pancetta and crushed red pepper and cook over moderate heat, stirring occasionally, until the garlic is golden, about 5 minutes. Add the tomato paste and cook, stirring, for 1 minute. Add the canned tomatoes, crushing them with the back of a spoon; season with salt and pepper. Stir in the sugar and basil and bring to a boil. Reduce the heat to low and simmer, stirring occasionally, until the sauce is thickened and reduced to 3 cups, about 30 minutes.

Discard the basil and garlic.

Meanwhile, in a large pot of boiling salted water, cook the spaghetti until al dente; drain. Toss the spaghetti with the hot sauce and serve.

MAKE AHEAD The sauce can be refrigerated for up to 3 days or frozen for up to 1 month.