I don't always set out to vegetarian-ize everything I used to eat. Quite frankly, it takes a lot of effort to create a respectable, comparable meat-free version of most things, and, quite frankly, most of those original versions are not so hot anyway. I mean that the number of dishes I truly miss from my meat-eating days, that were really about meaty texture, flavour or both, is relatively small. Amatriciana, a classic Italian red tomato sauced pasta that starts with guanciale (cured pig jowl), is all about the salty, richness that comes from that pork. And it's damn good. Good enough that I wanted to make something similar that I could enjoy.
To be successful I had to replace the saltiness and richness I'd be losing when I omitted the guanciale, and I settled on cured olives and butter, and relied on onions for sweetness and smoked paprika for, well, smokiness that reminds many of cured meat, even though guanciale is not smoked. I added a second, non-smoked paprika, the darkest I had on hand, strictly to saturate the sauce with red. It was important to me to recreate that almost surreal, blood-red sauce. It totally worked and you'll end up with something that threatens to stain anything it touches and I thought it was stunning, even though it gets briefly masked with an avalanche of Parmesan dust. It's also nice to strike the dish with a flash of chili oil right before serving, making it, perhaps, the boldest meat-free pasta you've made, and hopefully, a damn good spin on Amatriciana.
Amatriciana
2 tbs extra-virgin olive oil
2 tbs unsalted butter
1 med red onion, finely chopped
1-2 large dried red chilies, broken up, to taste
1 large garlic clove, finely chopped
1 tsp smoked paprika powder
1/2 tsp dark paprika powder
3/4 tsp kosher salt, divided
3/4 c pitted, chopped Nicoise olives
1/2 c sun-dried tomatoes in oil, chopped
1 tbs tomato paste
2 c canned whole plum tomatoes and liquid (San Marzano preferred)
1 c or more finely grated Parmesan cheese
Add oil and butter to heated pan. When the butter has melted, add onion and chili, stir to separate the onion pieces and cook over medium-high heat, stirring frequently until softened, about 5 minutes. Add the garlic, both paprika powders, and 1/2 tsp of salt, and cook for a minute until the garlic has softened. Add olives, sun-dried tomatoes and cook for another minute. Add the tomatoes and their liquid and the remaining 1/4 tsp of salt and bring to a simmer for 5 minutes.
Remove the pan from the heat and purée the sauce using an immersion blender or a food processor until fairly smooth. Return the pot of sauce to a medium-low heat and simmer for 5 minutes. Taste and adjust seasoning if necessary. Add half-cooked pasta to the sauce and finish cooking the noodles in the sauce. Serve the pasta and top with lots of the grated Parmesan. Serve with chili oil if desired.
Makes 4 servings.