Lazio · Amatrice

Spaghetti all'amatriciana

Name: Spaghetti all'amatriciana
Prep time: 10 min
Cook time: 35 min
Total time: 45 min
Yield: 4 servings
Cuisine: Italian (Lazio)
Ingredients: 500 g spaghetti (or bucatini; short pasta is also accepted); 125 g guanciale (cured pork jowl), rind removed, in strips (18–30% of the sauce); 400 g tomato passata and/or chopped peeled tomatoes (69–81% of the sauce — or 6–7 fresh San Marzano tomatoes); 1 tsp extra virgin olive oil (0.5–1% of the sauce); dry white wine (a splash); chilli, fresh or dried, and/or black pepper (to taste); salt (to taste); 100 g Pecorino di Amatrice or Pecorino Romano PDO, grated (recommended, to finish)

Pasta with guanciale and tomato, from Amatrice

Guanciale, tomato, white wine and chilli, finished with pecorino — protected by the EU since 2020 as ‘Amatriciana Tradizionale’.

EU-codifiedSources checked · October 2026

Course: Primo piattoPasta & rice
Serves: 4
Prep: 10 min
Cook: 35 min

La provenienza

Where this recipe comes from

Since March 2020 ‘Amatriciana Tradizionale’ has been an EU Traditional Speciality Guaranteed. The specification protects the sauce: cured pork jowl (guanciale) making up 18–30% of it, tomato 69–81%, a touch of olive oil, white wine, salt and chilli or pepper — and, explicitly, no garlic, onion or pork belly.

According to the registered text, the dish began with the shepherds of the Monti della Laga, who carried cured guanciale and flour on their months-long migrations with the flocks. Tomatoes were added in the early nineteenth century, when Amatrice belonged to the Kingdom of Naples, and people from Amatrice who moved to Rome made the sauce famous there.

The town of Amatrice had already fixed its own recipe in 2015, the source of the quantities below, and each summer it celebrates the dish with the Sagra degli Spaghetti all'Amatriciana.

Provenance: EU-codifiedThe dish itself is protected by an EU specification (TSG, PDO or PGI) that fixes how it is made.
Defined by: European Union
Reference: Traditional Speciality Guaranteed ‘Amatriciana Tradizionale’ — Implementing Regulation (EU) 2020/395, 2020
Sources: Commission Implementing Regulation (EU) 2020/395 — ‘Amatriciana Tradizionale’ entered in the register of TSGs (EUR-Lex)
EU Official Journal C 393, 20 November 2019 — the full ‘Amatriciana Tradizionale’ specification (EUR-Lex)
Arsial, Lazio's agriculture agency — ‘Amatriciana Tradizionale STG’, the EU recognition (Italian)

Amatrice, Lazio

Ingredienti

Ingredients

4 servings

500 g spaghetti or bucatini; short pasta is also accepted
125 g guanciale (cured pork jowl), rind removed, in strips 18–30% of the sauce
400 g tomato passata and/or chopped peeled tomatoes 69–81% of the sauce — or 6–7 fresh San Marzano tomatoes
1 tsp extra virgin olive oil 0.5–1% of the sauce
dry white wine a splash
chilli, fresh or dried, and/or black pepper to taste
salt to taste
100 g Pecorino di Amatrice or Pecorino Romano PDO, grated recommended, to finish

Preparazione

Method

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Errori comuni

Common mistakes

Adding onion or garlic: the EU specification excludes both.
Using pancetta or bacon instead of guanciale — the specification names pork belly as excluded.
Drowning it in oil: the guanciale gives the fat; the specification allows less than 1% olive oil.

Fuori dall'Italia

Cooking it outside Italy

Guanciale is now sold by Italian delis abroad. If you cannot find it, unsmoked pancetta makes a good pasta — but not an amatriciana.

Where this recipe comes from

Ingredients

Method

Common mistakes

Cooking it outside Italy

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