Category: Recipes

Marcella Hazan titled the recipe “Amatriciana – Tomato Sauce with Pancetta and Chili Pepper.” To me, the aged cheese plays too important of a role to go uncredited. To me it is “Amatriciana – Spicy Tomato Sauce with Cured Pork and Aged Grating Cheese.”

Eggs and cheese and starchy pasta water transform into a rich and creamy sauce. Lace that with cured pork and combine with pasta, and you have one of Rome’s most famous pasta dishes. There’s a trick you should know to make the dish foolproof. Or, as Italians would say, infallibile (pronounced in·fal·lì·bi·le).

Theoretically, Cacio e Pepe is one of the simplest pasta dishes in existence. Traditionally, the sauce is literally just three ingredients: Pecorino Romano cheese, black pepper and a splash of starchy pasta water. So, why is it so hard? Well, it can be foolproof, or as an Italian would say “Infallibile.”

If you like the idea of making fresh pasta by hand, and you like the idea of fun shaped pasta, then semolina pasta dough is the choice for you. It is time consuming. After all, you have to touch each and every piece of pasta! But it’s not hard. And you have two options with respect to the time. One is to embrace some Zen meditation while forming the pasta yourself. The other is to enlist friends and family for a pasta shaping party. Both options are great for the soul.