Preparation

Pasta is one of the most useful foods to keep in your kitchen and, accompanied by a good home-made sauce, there is nothing quite like it. Our suggestion for today is pasta dish with one of the most traditional and most popular Italian sauces, which is also easy to make – Amatriciana sauce.

Amatriciana sauce owes its name to the small town of Amatrice in the Lazio region in central Italy. It was traditionally eaten by shepherds who, during the summer period made the journey towards Rome to sell their meat and dairy products. The Romans rapidly began to appreciate their great sauce, which has since become a classic of Italian cuisine.

Pasta in general is an easy food to cook and of course it allows a vast range of accompaniments. It is also a good source of complex carbohydrates and its fat content is very low. Pancetta on the other hand contains high-value proteins and fat. To complete the preparation of the dish, tomatoes, onion and chilli are added, foods which increase the vitamin, mineral and anti-oxidant value of the dish.

Preparation:

Wash and peel the tomatoes first. You can then either dice them finely or stick them in a blender. Next, finely chop the onion and the chilli and reserve them.

Cut the pancetta up into small pieces (if necessary) and then brown it in a frying pan containing 2 tablespoonfuls of Betis olive oil. At this point add the onion and the chilli. Once the onion is lightly cooked, add the tomato and season to taste with salt and pepper. Let it cook on a low heat for about 30 minutes, taking care not to let the sauce dry up. If this starts to happen, add a little hot water to dilute it.

While the sauce is cooking, boil a litre of water with a teaspoonful of salt added. When it is boiling, throw in the pasta and cook it according to the instructions on the packet. It is not advisable to add oil to the water since this will prevent the pasta from soaking up the sauce well.

When the pasta is ready, drain it and mix it well with the sauce. Serve the dish immediately with plenty of grated pecorino.

Note: serves 4. Preparation time 45 minutes. Cooking time: 35 minutes.