Hello again :)

 Ghosty writing and today I have another very simple yet so tasty pasta dish for you.
A hearty, down to earth sauce , called Amatriciana. In it's very basic form, it is made only from a handful of ingredients.
I used up some leftovers, therefore I didn't use the "correct" pasta.
Usually for this dish Spaghetti or Bucatini (a sort of slightly thicker, hollow spaghetti) are used. But since Linguine are very close to Spaghetti, I don't think too much of an affront. ;)
Naw, honestly, use whatever pasta you like. Personally, I like to go as classic as I can, but that doesn't mean I don't improvise. Heck, most of my cooking is improvised ;)
Please also keep in mind as this is a quite old dish, there isn't really a "right" recipe so feel free to vary the amount of ingredients used to suit your personal taste best.

Ingredients (serves 2-3):
4-5 big tomatoes (or a can of peeled or chopped tomatoes)
1 small onion
1-2 garlic cloves
75-100g Guanciale or Panchetta (Italian bacon)
Olive oil
Tomato paste
Pecorino (or Parmigiano if you don't have Pecorino), freshly grated
Salt, Pepper, Spices to your taste
250-300g Spaghetti, Bucatini or Linguine (or any pasta you like)
A bit of the noodle water (or stock or water)
Optional: Butter or lard
Optional: Chili
Optional: White wine
Optional: fresh herbs

Preparation (for the "enhanced" version ;) ) :
Peel onion and Garlic. Cut the onion into small cubes, leave the garlic intact, just crush it a little with the broad side of your kitchen knife before use.
Wash the tomatoes, remove the green stuff (I also remove the seeds as they don't really add to the taste) and cut it into small pieces. You can also remove the skin of the tomatoes by dousing the tomatoes with boiling water, then peel them. If you are using chopped tomatoes, just use them as the are. If you are using canned tomatoes, just chop them up as well.
Cut the bacon into pieces or strips and also cut the chili into small pieces or rings, if you are going to use them.
In a large enough pan, heat some olive oil. Add some lard or butter if you like for taste.
Sweat the onions and the garlic until the onions turn glassy and soft. Add the bacon and continue to gently fry. If you have some rosemary or thyme you can add it right from the start, those two herbs need heat to develop their aroma.
Add some tomato paste, fry a little more, add a little white wine, stock or water to deglaze and then the chopped tomatoes.
Cover the pan and let it cook on low heat until the tomato pieces mostly dissolve and the sauce thickens, which will take about 30 minutes. More time doesn't hurt, the sauce will only get better over time. Add more liquid when it gets too thick. You can use some of the noodle water later for an extra taste.
Season it with salt, pepper and spices to your taste.
Shortly before serving, remove the cooked out herbs and garlic and mix in freshly grated Pecorino or Parmigiano.

When the sauce is almost finished, cook your noodles al dente.
Add some noodle water to sauce if you need to adjust the texture.
When the pasta are finished, take them directly out of the water into the pan and mix with the sauce.
Dress on a soup plate, add some more cheese and some roughly cut basil.
Enjoy ^_^