Spaghetti ala Amatriciana

Hello my Hy-Vee friends!

I love pasta and let's face it, who doesn't? When our Hy-Vee brought in a new imported Italian section, I decided to give the Gustare pasta a shot and I was blown away. It's been too long since I ate real Italian pasta and I don’t think I’ll ever go back to the box stuff again. 

All pastas are NOT created equal. Yes, all pasta consists of flour and water, but the differences stop there. There is industrial pasta and artisan pasta. The two big differences are the dies they use to extrude the pasta and the time and temperature used to dry the pasta. 

Industrial pasta uses Teflon dies to extrude pasta. Teflon dies are strong, efficient and the pasta comes out shiny and smooth. But you do not want smooth pasta. With smooth pasta, the sauce slides off. Artisan pasta uses bronze dies. Bronze dies are expensive and break easier, but the pasta that is extruded comes out rough. Rough is what we want because then your sauce clings to the pasta. 

Secondly and just as important is how the pasta is dried. Industrial pasta is dried hot and quick. Artisan pasta is dried low and slow. This helps retain its delicious taste and texture. To highlight this wonderful pasta, I chose the delicious Amatriciana sauce. This pasta sauce is based on guanciale (cured pork jowl available at your Hy-Vee Deli), tomato, onions and garlic. Simple and very tasty!

Spaghetti ala Amatriciana

All you need:
1 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil
1 medium onion, sliced thin
3 cloves garlic, sliced
1/4 pound guanciale, small dice (preferably La Quercia)
1 28 ounce can whole tomatoes
1/2 teaspoon red chili flakes, or to taste
Salt
1/4 cup grated aged pecorino cheese, more for serving
1 pound spaghetti

All you do:
1. Heat oil in a 12-inch skillet. Add onion and garlic, and saute over medium heat until transparent. Add guanciale and saute until barely beginning to brown.
2. Break up tomatoes and add. Cook about 15 minutes, crushing tomatoes with a spoon. Season with chili and salt. Remove from heat.
3. Bring a large pot of lightly salted water to a boil, add spaghetti and cook until al dente, about 9 minutes. Drain and transfer to skillet. Gently reheat contents of skillet, folding pasta and tomato sauce together until they are heated through and pasta is well-coated, about 5 minutes. Check seasoning and serve with cheese on the side. 
4. Enjoy!

Slurp some pasta and as always, Praise the Lard!

-Chef Alex