Bucatini all’Amatriciana
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Bucatini all’Amatriciana is one of the great Roman pasta dishes — a deeply savory quick-cooked tomato sauce with guanciale, Pecorino Romano, finished with starchy pasta water until glossy. It’s the kind of sauce that tastes like it simmered all day but comes together in under 30 minutes, making it one of the best weeknight pastas in the Italian canon.
My version is inspired by my favorite iteration of this dish at a restaurant in Santa Monica, classic with one addition — sautéed red onions, which aren’t traditional but add a subtle sweetness that balances the heat of the red pepper beautifully. Since bucatini is basically the shape of a pool noodle, it’s great for soaking up sauces, especially velvety sauces like this one, cacio e pepe or this bucatini carbonara with bacon and peas.
Why You’ll Love This Recipe
- It tastes like it simmered all day (but takes 30 minutes) – The guanciale does the heavy lifting, rendering into a flavorful, savory base that makes the sauce taste far more complex than the effort involved.
- One pot, minimal cleanup. The sauce comes together in a single pan, which means less time at the sink and more time at the table.
Key Ingredients in This Recipe
- Guanciale – I like buying a big chunk of the cured pork jowl and cutting it into lardons (strips of fatty cured pork) myself so that I can control the size. When the fat is rendered and the pieces are crispy you still get a bit of tender fat in each bite. If you prefer less fatty pork, I’d recommend cutting it into smaller pieces.
- Bucatini – Bucatini is in my top 5 pasta shapes. I love how the sauce gets stuck in the hole in the center of the long thick noodles, but if you can’t find it, you can easily substitute spaghetti or linguine. Bucatini is thicker than spaghetti with a hole in the middle.
- White wine – Deglazing the pan with white wine adds flavor to this simple dish.
- Onions – Sliced onions add texture and a subtle sweetness.
- Red pepper flakes – A bit of red pepper flakes adds a bit of heat.
- Canned tomatoes – The tomatoes are drained of liquid then roughly chopped to add texture and flavor without creating a tomato-based sauce.
- Pecorino Romano – The freshly grated cheese is tossed with the pasta to add a sharp, salty finish and to emulsify in the sauce to create that rich, glossy finish.
A full ingredient list with exact amounts can be found in the recipe card below.
Swaps and Substitutions
- Guanciale: You can swap the cured pork jowl with pancetta for similar flavors or with bacon based on accessibility.
- Pasta: Bucatini is traditional but it can also be served with another noodle like spaghetti or rigatoni.
- Onions: The onions can be omitted or swapped for yellow onions or shallots.
- Cheese: Swap the Pecorino Romano for Parmesan if needed.
- Red pepper flakes: Double the amount for a spicier dish or omit if you don’t prefer heat.
pro tip
Skip adding oil to pasta water before adding the pasta! You want this sauce to bind to the noodles – this is aided by the addition of the pasta water. Adding oil when cooking the noodles will make them slippery and the sauce won’t stick as well.
How to make bucatini all’amatriciana (Step-by-step with photos)
Heat a large sauté pan over medium-low heat, add the olive oil and heat through. Add the guanciale and fry until the fat renders and the lardons are crispy, about 10 minutes. Remove with a slotted spoon, reserving as much fat in the pan.
Return the pan to medium heat, add the onion and sauté until 6 minutes. Add the wine and cook, scraping any browned bits off the bottom, until the wine has almost completely evaporated, about 6 minutes.
Drain and roughly chop the tomatoes then add to the pan and bring to a simmer. Stir in the cooked guanciale, black pepper and red pepper flakes.
Add the pasta to the pan, using tongs to toss to combine with ½ cup of the pasta water. Heat over high heat and toss the pasta rapidly until the sauce thickens and coats the noodles, adding more pasta water if the sauce gets too thick.
Add the pasta to the pan, using tongs to toss to combine with ½ cup of the pasta water. Heat over high heat and toss the pasta rapidly until the sauce thickens and coats the noodles, adding more pasta water if the sauce gets too thick.
Remove from the heat then slowly add the pecorino, continuing to toss the pasta to combine. Season to taste with salt and serve immediately topped with additional cheese.
FAQ – Frequently Asked Questions
If you can’t find guiancale you can substitute lardons of bacon or pancetta. I’d recommend looking at Italian markets or asking at your deli counter.
No but I love the texture and slight sweetness they add to this bucatini all’amatriciana recipe!
The salty, starchy water that the pasta is cooked in adds flavor but also makes the sauce rich and silky. It helps to bind the sauce to the pasta.
Guanciale is cured pork with a high percentage of fat that comes from pig jowls, seasoned with salt, pepper, sage, rosemary and garlic. Pancetta comes from pork belly and is salted, seasoned, cured and aged for an extended period of time.
Bucatini all’amatriciana or bucatini amatriciana refers to the spicy pasta sauce made up of pork cheek (guiancale), tomatoes, cheese and in some variations, onions. It’s named for Amatrice, a small Italian town outside Rome.
Other Recipes to Try
If you enjoy this bucatini all’Amatriciana recipe, give these other Italian classics a try:
Bucatini all’Amatriciana
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Ingredients:
- 1 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil
- 8 ounces guanciale, cut into ½“ lardons
- 1 small red onion, thinly sliced
- ½ cup dry white wine
- 1 (28-ounce) can whole peeled tomatoes
- 1 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
- ½ teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes
- ¾ pound dried bucatini
- 1 cup grated pecorino romano, plus additional for serving
Instructions:
- Heat a large sauté pan over medium-low heat, add the olive oil and heat through. Add the guanciale and fry until the fat renders and the lardons are crispy, about 10 minutes. Remove with a slotted spoon, reserving as much fat in the pan.
- Return the pan to medium heat, add the onion and sauté until 6 minutes. Add the wine and cook, scraping any browned bits off the bottom, until the wine has almost completely evaporated, about 6 minutes.
- Drain and roughly chop the tomatoes then add to the pan and bring to a simmer. Stir in the cooked guanciale, black pepper and red pepper flakes.
- Bring a large pot of water to the boil; add the salt and bring back to the boil. Add the bucatini and cook, stirring occasionally, until just al dente, about 7 minutes. Set aside 1½ cups of the pasta water then drain.
- Add the pasta to the pan, using tongs to toss to combine with ½ cup of the pasta water. Heat over high heat and toss the pasta rapidly until the sauce thickens and coats the noodles, adding more pasta water if the sauce gets too thick.
- Remove from the heat then slowly add the pecorino, continuing to toss the pasta to combine. Season to taste with salt and serve immediately topped with additional cheese.
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Notes:
Nutrition:
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Recipe originally published 3.15.21, updated 4.29.26.
Used pancetta instead of guanciale and sauce still came out delicious! My new go-to all’amatriciana sauce recipe!
So happy to hear it Erin! xx