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The end piece
The thunder rolls through the valley, vibrating my chest as I poke my head outside the small foyer of the Airbnb we rented. Small enough for just two yet bigger than our London flat. Just me, the tall oak trees hovering like umbrellas in the early summer rain, and the rolling thunder. And a bottle of wine - how could I not mention the wine. We were approaching June and the weather had been a mix of gloomy, rainy days and beautiful evening sunsets. That night was an exception. The thunder lingered through the evening and as the vast hills of olive trees and thick forrest began to grow dark, so did my fears. Alone, in the woods, no service, power flickering on and off. A recipe for the next best Netflix thriller. I popped open the bottle of red and shook the thought of being the main character in the script out of my mind. As the wine flowed in and out of my glass, so did my fears.
We spent the long holiday weekend in Orvieto. A place we’re hoping to one day call home so we thought it best to live it, even if only for a long weekend. We had lined up a few appointments to visit some surrounding homes with a real estate agent. But other than that, we decided to fill our time finding and meeting with local cheese makers and wineries who we’d one day like to bring our guests to. Just so happens there’s lots of them. From a young woman who’d moved out of the city to make cheese, to a couple who was producing natural wine, to the classic family run farm who, for generations, had been providing the community with the happiest beef we’d ever tasted. We went to bed on our first night, excited to explore the local life the following morning. As the moon shone bright and full, we were woken up by the sound of howling wolves. Were we, now city kids, ready for life in the countryside?
The following morning fields of poppies greet us as if smiling, welcoming us to the day ahead. They line the grassy valleys where the animals graze. A chilled breeze brushes off my shoulder, I’m instantly calm. A storm seems to be rolling in again, but we don’t mind. We’ve gathered the perfect set of ingredients for a night in - goats cheese, a bottle of wine and guanciale. They’re all tucked in the back seat, bumping about as we travel the dirt road back to our retreat for the night. The goats cheese is perfectly packaged, only a small ribbon fastening the paper that it’s wrapped in. Even though it’s not exposed, you can smell how potent it is. Almost as if we’ve stepped back onto the farm, but instead, now lingers inside the interior of Gianluca’s parents car. We shuffle our loot from the car to the house. First things first - wine and snacks. I start on setting out a tasting of the cheeses and Gianluca works on pouring us glasses of the natural red wine we secured. La Villana - a beautiful and earthy red blend from the neighboring village of Bolsena. The young woman who produces the wine is creating some beautiful wines from this area so we were excited to get our hands on a bottle. Next up, the main attraction, amatriciana.
Guanciale. A great amatriciana starts with great product. And we had just that. While wandering the cobbled streets of Aquapendente we stumbled across a butcher. They were closing for the day, but offered up a friendly smile and a chat. We aksed if they had any guanciale and the woman behind the counter said she’s have to check in the back. We waited in front of the counter. Bright red pieces of beef stared back at us from behind the glass - I’m still confident it was the freshest beef I’ve ever seen. She shuffled back, her shoes dragging her tired feet along the marbled floor. “I’m sorry but it’s only the very end piece and I want to make sure you have a more fresh piece,” she said waving the small piece of meat in the air, a tssk noise ever so slightly dancing from her tongue. We looked at one another and agreed it would be just fine for us. All we needed was a few slices. A jar of cherry tomatoes was waiting for us in the fridge of the Airbnb. She then explained how the animals were raised by her family in town and sold here in their shop. We all agreed the end piece would work for what we needed and as we left she said, “Come back and let me know how you liked it. I’m sure it will be the best guanciale you’ve ever tasted.” It turns out….it was.
Amatriciana
Note that you may use a mix of canned tomatoes and fresh tomatoes (I only recommend using fresh tomatoes in the summer months when the tomatoes are sweet and juicy enough to make a sauce from them). Be sure to adjust the salt taking into account that guanciale is a cured and salty meat and pecorino is also salty. Taste as you go to make sure you’re not over salting the dish.
Serves 2
Ingredients
4-5 slices of guanciale, then sliced into strips
2 slices of a red onion, sliced again into strips
1 can of whole peeled tomatoes, plus a splash of water
Splash of white wine or beer (optional)
200g pasta of your choice, typical pairing for amatriciana is bucatini but the shape choice is yours.
Black pepper to taste & salt (note the guanciale is salty)
Grated pecorino to garnish (optional, note pecorino is salty)
Method
In a pan over medium heat, add your pieces of guanciale and red onion. Allow the fat to render out of the guanciale. You will notice a good amount of fat will have rendered out. Dispose of a few tablespoons if you feel it’s too much fat (this will depend on the cut of guanciale you might have, some cuts are fattier than others). Once you begin to see that the fat of the guanciale is becoming translucent, add a spash of beer or white wine to deglaze the pan. Cook the alcohol off and add your can of tomatoes and a splash of water. Cook until the flavor is concentrated and the tomatoes have lost their acidic bite, about 20 minutes.
While your sauce is gaining flavor, boil your pasta to al dente. Toss with your sauce, crack with some black pepper and top with pecorino. Enjoy!
Until next time at a standing reservation…
With love & snacks,
Paige
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Need a happy moment?
A darling strawberry. But a wild one. These lovely berries are known in Italy as frutti di bosco - fruit of the forrest. Once the season for these wild berries begins, they can be found on almost every dessert menu in Italy. In a sweet crostata, in gelato, with cream. Whichever way you decide to eat these, you’re reminded of the season and how special they are to exist.
paige i so enjoy reading your writings! i've told you rmom so i'll tell you too. you have a great approach to life and dealing with it's shortcomings and that is a gift. i'm sure it it harder than you make it seem here but i love where you turn up. keep going grl - nothing can stop you but you! hope to see you at JBC sometime soon - kate
Genuinely bought bananas for it to get extra ripe to throw them into the freezer for just this!