What is cavatappi amatriciana?

Cavatappi amatriciana is an Italian dish that consists of cavatappi, a type of pasta in a spiraling tube shape, and amatriciana sauce. Amatriciana sauce consists primarily of guanciale, pecorino cheese and tomato.

Most historians agree that the name for the sauce comes from the tiny mountain town of Amatrice in the country's Lazio region. This was a poor person's dish, originally, and the most traditional versions of the sauce consist of only three ingredients, smoked pork jowl (guanciale), tomatoes and cheese. Cavatappi is a whimsical pasta whose name derives from the Italian word for "corkscrew." A more traditional name for this dish is cavatappi all'amatriciana.