Pasta all’amatriciana is undoubtedly one of the wonders of Italian gastronomic tradition, a simple though absolutely perfect recipe, and it is impossible not to fall in love with it at the first bite.

It may have been born as a poor recipe, an icon of trattorias and inns of the Italian region of Lazio, but there is no doubt that a good plate of pasta all’amatriciana is now rightfully part of the cultural heritage enriching Italy. As its name suggests, it comes from Amatrice, a small town in the province of Rieti, but the history of its origins is rather uncertain and poorly documented, which proves its popular roots. Apparently it was the traditional meal, originally prepared without tomatoes, which shepherds took with them when they moved with their flocks. And so it was that, from countryside to countryside, they slowly made it known as far as Rome. We are talking about the 1700s.

Today, recipe blogs go crazy on it: there are absolute purists and experimenters who love variations. There are those who add onions (the Romans), those who do not add onions at all (the inhabitants of Amatrice), those who still make it without tomatoes and those who simmer it with wine. There are also those who add Parmesan cheese instead of pecorino cheese and those who argue about pecorino cheese (needless to say, Romans claim one makes it with Pecorino Romano cheese and the inhabitants of Amatrice with Amatrice PDO Pecorino cheese… and it is now very clear to us). There is one thing one cannot compromise on: guanciale (lard), never bacon. Either that or it is not amatriciana pasta. There is also much debate about the pasta shape to be used: spaghetti in Amatrice and bucatini in Rome, but there are also variations using short pasta shapes. In such a lively scenario, we wanted to give our own interpretation, not by revisiting the recipe (that is already perfect in all versions proposed!), but by rethinking the time to serve it. We have turned it into a gourmet cocktail, where the only protagonist is the recipe itself, enhanced by our 3D pasta shapes. We have used Vortipa because, due to its roughness and thickness, it has the ideal texture to enhance the sauce. It was certainly good, now it is also extraordinarily beautiful.