The name sounds fancy but this is super easy to make and and comes together quickly! It’s super delicious too! Seriously one of the best pasta dishes ever in my opinion, but I guess you’ll have to try it out for yourself and see!
Here’s the recipe:
8 oz diced guanciale (italian cured hog jowl)*
1 tbsp olive oil
½ tsp crushed red pepper
1 medium sized diced onion
¼ cup good red wine
1 28 oz can crushed tomatoes (pref. Muir Glen or San Marzano)
3 cloves minced garlic
Salt and pepper to taste
1 pound bucatini
½ cup reserved pasta water
½ cup grated pecorino cheese
*can use pancetta or bacon if guanciale is not available
This is seriously one of the best pasta dishes I have ever had. And it’s so easy!! This is one of those dishes you can keep the ingredients on hand (guanciale freezes well) and make for a quick weeknight meal. Add a caesar salad, some crusty bread and a bottle of your favorite wine and you’re good to go.
We have a friend that lived in Italy for several months and he said this is his favorite pasta dish. I had never heard of it, so I did some research and found several recipes, all of which were similar with only minor variations. I wanted to do a trial run before cooking it for him for dinner, so we made it for dinner on a weeknight when our family was all in town.
I made my own modifications to the traditional recipes (such as adding red wine). Some recipes didn’t have garlic either, but I love garlic so I included it as well. You could probably add fresh basil too for a nice variation. This would be great with Italian meatballs too if you’re a meat lover.
To prepare the sauce:
Saute diced guanciale in oil over medium high heat in skillet until lightly browned. Add crushed red pepper and diced onion and saute until onion is translucent. Add garlic, cook one minute more, then red wine and cook for another minute. Add crushed tomatoes and salt and pepper to taste. Simmer for 15 minutes.
Meanwhile, cook the bucatini pasta in salted boiling water. Check the cook time on the package and subtract 2-3 minutes from the al dente cook time. Boil the pasta for that amount of time and then drain in colander and run under cold water until pasta has cooled. Make sure to reserve ½ cup or so of the pasta water to add to your sauce. Add the cooked pasta to the pan with the simmering sauce and add ½ cup of the pasta water. Bring to a boil and let simmer for another 2-3 minutes until pasta is cooked al dente. Stir in pecorino and serve immediately.