Welcome to your free online Italian Jonica Pasta Course! In this class, you will master “Spaghetti alla Jonica”—a Calabrian version of the Roman Amatriciana with sweet red bell pepper.
This course is part of our series of Free Online Italian Cooking Classes for Pasta, where we teach you to cook pasta like Italians do—from dough to dishes.
Video Class Overview
This lesson is filmed in stunning 4K for visual clarity, with subtitles available in English, French, Spanish, German, and other languages.
Each class is structured to walk you through the techniques used by Italian cooks—so you can see what matters (and what doesn’t) when making pasta the traditional way.
Ingredients and How to Make Pasta with Red Pepper Sauce (Jonica)
The full ingredient list and step-by-step instructions are below. We’ve formatted the recipe for easy saving or printing. Be sure to watch the video first—it covers essential technique tips!
We use the most traditional measurements and techniques, so you can recreate this recipe exactly as it would be made in Italy. We recommend against shortcuts, so no substitutions unless noted.
Calabrian ‘Amatriciana’ Pasta Course: How to Make Jonica with Red Pepper Sauce
Ingredients
- 500 g datterini tomatoes or plum or cherry tomatoes
- 300 g San Marzano tomatoes
- 500 g red bell pepper about 1 large
- 2 cloves garlic
- 200 g guanciale
- 100 g Pecorino cheese
- olive oil only if the guanciale doesn't produce enough fat after frying to sauté the garlic
- 3 pinches fine salt or to taste
- 1 handful fresh basil
- 320 g spaghetti
Instructions
Boil or Roast the Red Pepper
- Boil or roast the sweet red pepper to cook it and remove the skin of the pepper. We recommend roasting the pepper for best flavor (gas stovetop, oven or air fryer). See the article above for pepper roasting details.
- Cover the cooked pepper and let it steam for 10 minutes before removing the pepper skin. Removing the skin will be super easy!
Purée the Tomatoes and Roasted Red Pepper
- Score, blanch and peel the datterini and San Marzano tomatoes. You can also use good-quality canned peeled tomatoes if fresh ones aren’t available. Just be sure to remove the excess water and seeds from the canned tomatoes before the purée.
- Purée the peeled tomatoes with the roasted red pepper.
Cook the Guanciale
- In a large pan (no oil yet!), cook the guanciale over medium heat until golden and crispy. If the guanciale does not produce enough fat to sauté the garlic, add a little olive oil. However, guanciale is quite fatty and should render plenty of fat.
Make the Red Pepper and Tomato Sauce
- Add whole smashed garlic to the rendered guanciale fat and sauté briefly. When the garlic turns golden, remove it. Its work is done!
- Then add the tomato/pepper purée to the fat along with a few pinches of salt. Simmer everything for about 10 minutes. In the meantime…
Finish with Pasta
- Boil the spaghetti in salted water until al dente. Reserve some pasta water before draining.
- Toss the spaghetti into the sauce, adding a bit of pasta water if needed to help everything bind. Turn off the heat and add pecorino cheese and fresh basil. Stir to combine.
- Serve Immediately! Top with a bit more pecorino and basil if you like.
Equipment and Tools
You don’t need a professional kitchen to make great pasta—but the right tools can make it easier. For this recipe, we recommend:
- Tomato Strainer or Immersion Blender – If using fresh tomatoes to make the sauce for this recipe, you’ll need to peel and remove the seeds from the tomatoes. You can either use a tomato strainer to do this or remove the skins and seeds by hand and purée with an immersion blender.
How to Make “Spaghetti alla Jonica“
This Calabrian version of Pasta Amatriciana is easy to make. Learn how to master the dish step by step in our video class, including how to roast red peppers over a gas flame!
- 00:00 – Intro
- 00:14 – What is Pasta Jonica?
- 01:10 – How to Roast a Red Pepper on a Stovetop (over fire)
- 02:57 – How to Make Calabrian ‘Amatriciana’ Sauce
- 09:13 – Pasta alla Jonica!
Pro Tips for Making Jonica Pasta with Red Pepper Sauce
Roast the Red Pepper
Roasting sweet red bell peppers always brings out the best flavor. Any of the common roasting methods will work: gas flame, oven or even air fryer!
Using Guanciale? No need to add oil.
Guanciale is very fatty and will produce plenty of drippings for sautéing the garlic (the soffritto) and adding fat to the sauce. There is no need to add olive oil here, unless you are drastically reducing the guanciale or using pancetta instead.
Remember guanciale is cured pork cheek while pancetta is cured pork belly. They aren’t the same product. Guanciale is traditional here.
Common Mistakes to Avoid
Using Pancetta
Again, not the same product as guanciale. Remember guanciale is cured pork cheek while pancetta is cured pork belly. They aren’t the same product. Guanciale is traditional here.
If you choose to use pancetta, remember that pancetta usually gives off less fat, so you may want to add some olive oil to make the soffritto with the garlic.