Spaghetti Amatriciana

Ease: 4/5     Kid-friendliness: 4/5     Taste: 4/5     Time: 3.5/6

Prep: 10 minutes
Cooking time: 30 minutes

We eat spaghetti a lot. It's kind of the go-to when we don't know what else to make. So I thought I would look around for alternate (but still relatively easy) spaghetti recipes to "spice" things up once in awhile. Everyone liked this one. The original recipe called for dry white wine. I used a little bit of apple juice instead.

This isn't a traditional amatriciana pasta sauce, because as wikipedia told me, amatriciana pasta sauce is made with dried pork cheek (I doubt my bacon is strictly made from the "cheek") and percorino cheese (never heard of it), but calling it "amatriciana" sounds like a more adult pasta sauce, so I left it in the title.

What you'll need:

• 2 Tbsp olive oil
• 90 g thick cut bacon, chopped
• 1 small yellow onion, chopped
• 1 tsp red pepper flakes
• 1/2 C apple juice (or dry white wine)
• 2 Tbsp tomato paste
• 2.5 C diced tomatoes, with juice
• salt
• 500 g (1 lb) spaghetti
• 1/2 C parmesan cheese

Bring a large pot of water to a boil. In a large frying pan over medium-low heat, warm the oil. Add the bacon, onion, and red pepper flakes. Saute until the onion is softened and the bacon is lightly browned (~6 minutes). 

Stir in the apple juice, and tomato paste. Reduce the heat to low and cook about 1 minute. Add the tomatoes and 1/2 tsp salt. Raise the heat to medium-low and simmer, stirring occasionally, until the sauce is thickened, about 20 minutes. 

Meanwhile, add 2 Tbsp salt and pasta to the boiling water. Cook, stirring occasionally, until al dente according to package directions (~8 minutes). Drain, reserving ~ 1/2 C of cooking water. 

Add the drained pasta to the sauce and toss to combine. Sprinkle with one-third of the cheese and toss again. Add cooking water until the sauce is a nice consistency. Top with cheese, and serve.

Recipe from Weeknight Cook