Wine Pairing with Spaghetti all'Amatriciana

Spaghetti all'Amatriciana between myth and legend: the true story and the traditional recipe

Wandering through Rome, and beyond, every trattoria offers this dish that, in the collective imagination, represents Roman cuisine in Italy and around the world.
A preparation I have seen reproposed in New York as well as in London, yet few know that this symbol of Lazio gastronomy has nothing to do with Rome – it is in fact a dish of clearly Abruzzese origin.
Amatrice, a small town of around 2,700 souls, in the province of Rieti (Lazio), a stone's throw from Lake Campotosto and within the Parco del Gran Sasso e Monti della Laga, until 1927 was part of the province of L'Aquila, and from 1265 to 1861 – for roughly 600 years – an integral part of the Giustizierato d'Abruzzo and the province of Abruzzo Ultra II, in the district of Cittaducale, with L'Aquila as its capital.
It was Benito Mussolini who established the new province of Rieti, to which the Abruzzese municipalities of Amatrice, Cittaducale, and Antrodoco were also annexed.
L'Amatriciana was the traditional dish of Abruzzese shepherds and was originally made without tomato.
The essential ingredients for the recipe – Guanciale* and Pecorino di Amatrice* – travelled the transhumance trails alongside the shepherds toward the winter pastures of Puglia and also the Roman countryside.
The amatriciana without tomato (up until the 1700s) was known as "Gricia," perhaps due to the abundant pepper coating the guanciale, which turned the preparation grey. Only in the twentieth century did some cooks originally from Amatrice open inns and trattorias in Rome, bringing their local cuisine to the table – among them the spaghetti all'amatriciana – introducing the whole world to a simple dish with few ingredients, one that tolerates no mistakes either in preparation or in the use of typical local products.
Here I reproduce the original recipe, displayed in the centre of Amatrice in front of the public gardens.

Ricetta spaghetti all'amatriciana

Ingredients:

• 500 g spaghetti
• 125 g guanciale di Amatrice
• one tablespoon of extra virgin olive oil
• a splash of dry white wine
• 6 or 7 San Marzano tomatoes or 400 g peeled tomatoes
• a small piece of chilli pepper
• 100 g grated pecorino di Amatrice, salt.

Preparing the traditional recipe

Place in a pan – preferably iron – the oil, the chilli, and the guanciale cut into small pieces. The proportion of one quarter relative to the pasta is traditional and sacred to experts: either you use guanciale, that is to say the cheek of the pig, or they are not spaghetti all'AMATRICIANA – only with it will they achieve an unrivalled delicacy and sweetness.

Brown over high heat. Add the wine. Remove the pieces of guanciale from the pan, drain well, and set aside, preferably kept warm – this avoids the risk of them becoming too dry and salty, and they will remain softer and more flavourful.

Add the tomatoes, cut into strips and cleaned of their seeds (it is better to blanch them first, so the skin comes off more easily, then slice them). Adjust the salt, stir, and cook for a few minutes.

Remove the chilli, return the pieces of guanciale to the pan, and give the sauce another stir.

Meanwhile, cook the pasta in plenty of salted water until well al dente. Drain thoroughly and place in a bowl, adding the grated pecorino. Wait a few seconds, then pour over the sauce.
Toss together and, for those who wish, serve extra pecorino on the side.

*Make sure the sauce is made exclusively with Guanciale di Maiale, preferably from Amatrice, and not – as often happens – with pancetta tesa or, worse still, smoked pancetta.

*The same applies to the pecorino, which must strictly be from Amatrice – less pungent and sweeter than pecorino romano, which is often used as an alternative.

To celebrate a perfect marriage of flavours, I have no hesitation in pairing this preparation with a Montepulciano d'Abruzzo.
The wine should counterbalance the sweet tendency and a certain richness of the dish – accompanied by succulence and savouriness – with a vein of freshness, soft tannins well integrated into the body.
Full marks to Montepulciano d'Abruzzo Tonì by Cataldi Madonna, produced in the forno d'Abruzzo of Ofena in the province of L'Aquila. An important red wine with beguiling notes of dark, well-ripened fruit with hints of tobacco and liquorice.
Persistent and spiced.
Buon appetito.