Whenever I arrive in Rome, my first stop is always my favourite restaurant, where I sit at the bar and order a plate of pasta all’amatriciana. On my most recent trip, it was served with rigatoni, but it’s also excellent with long pasta such as bucatini, spaghetti or, as I’ve suggested here, spaghettone. Whichever you choose, just be sure to use dried pasta, not fresh egg pasta. With just a handful of ingredients, the key is to source the best produce you can find: the pecorino should be made with sheep’s milk and the guanciale top quality. I don’t worry about salt and pepper: I find the guanciale, chilli and pecorino provide all the seasoning this dish needs.