Bucatini All'amatriciana

The bucatini all'amatriciana at Lupa is totally delicious, so when I got my new Kitchen Aid and pasta extruder attachment I immediately broke it out to make fresh bucatini. (I know, I'm a weirdo.) Feel free to just buy bucatini like a normal person, but definitely make the sauce. To save a little time, I also used marinara from Faicco's instead of making the basic tomato sauce the recipe calls for, so that makes it easier. The sauce is rich and tart and has a little kick. It really is wonderful. And if you can't find bucatini or perciatelli, spaghetti will work, too. (And if you can't find guanciale you can use pancetta, but guanciale is definitely better in this.)

I got the recipe from Babbo's recipe archive site. Yum!

Serves 6
Ingredients:
1 lb guanciale, thinly sliced
4 garlic cloves, roughly chopped
1 1/2 red onions, cut in half in 1/2" slices
1 1/2 tsp red pepper flakes
salt and pepper to taste
2 cups marinara sauce
1 big handful parsley, roughly chopped
1 1/2 lb bucatini
Pecorino Romano for grating

Lupa

Yum!! Maybe you've heard of Lupa already--I'm sure you've heard of Babbo. Lupa is one of Mario Batali's less expensive restaurants. It's right nextdoor to delicious Tomoe sushi on Thompson street. You have to make your reservation like a week in advance, and even then it might be at 9:45--so plan ahead. I went with my boyfriend after Christmas and we got what I would consider the best table, by some stroke of luck. We were in the quieter back room in a corner banquette, so we were next to each other but looking out on the room. We had rosemary focaccia and yummy olive oil to start. I had the Buccatini all'amatriciana which was AMAZING. Definitely get it! He had the ricotta gnocchi, which was also great--light and fluffy, putting the usual heavy potato gnocchi to shame. I was too full for dessert, but I almost got this amazing looking ball of icecream covered in chocolate and rolled in hazelnuts. While writing this I'm kicking myself for not trying it. Next time! But definitely try Lupa--it's great.