I'm a multimedia computer geek that doesn't have internet at home...and thank goodness for that: unfortunately I'd gladly spend my weekends playing around on the computer instead of spending time with friends...

This weekend was lovely. I took Saturday to relax and recover from the dinner party I held the night before...12 Italians in my little apartment in Trastevere.  Man can they eat.  I made Bucatini alla Amatriciana.. (and then sausages and  rosemary potatoes..) which they all loved.  It is my favorite dish.

Here is the recipe for Bucatini alla Amatriciana:

• Olive oil
• peperoncino (powder or whole)
• 1 Onion: chopped roughly
• 1 package of bacon (here we use "guanciale" or "pancetta" but it doesn't exist in the states outside of little Italy) diced up.
• 1 can of diced tomatoes
• Grated Parmeggiano cheese
• pasta of your choice (bucatini are long like spaghetti but have a hole in the middle like a straw..impossible to eat because you can't breathe them back!!)
  
  
  Heat up the olive oil a bit (not too much:  overheating olive oil causes it to become carinogenic, hence bad for you)..  Drop in the bits of peperoncino and the onion and cook on low/medium heat until they become almost transparent.  This part makes your entire house smell amazing. Drop in the bacon until it is lightly browned and then dump in the can of tomatoes.  Add some water so that it doesn't dry up too quickly.  Cover it up and let it cook.  I use a frying pan as it cooks everything more evenly than a saucepan.

Boil your water for the pasta. As soon as it starts to boil, drop in a palmfull of salt (this will keep the pasta from being bland or "sciappa").  Boil the pasta using the recommended time constraints written on the package and then drain.

Now you can mix the two (Note: don't just pour it on top of the pasta, but mix it in the pan)..put it on plates and add the grated cheese.

Dig in..great for post-workout on a weekend day...a nice big lunch followed by a tiny dinner.