👩🍳Created by Chef Jen
Pasta Alla Gricia Recipe
A classic Roman dish featuring rigatoni, guanciale, and Pecorino Romano cheese. This simple yet incredibly flavorful combination is known for its rich, savory taste with minimal ingredients.
Serves4
Ingredients
- •8 ounces Rigatoni or Penne Pasta
- •4 ounces Guanciale or Pancetta, cut into small cubes
- •4 ounces Pecorino Romano Cheese, finely grated
- •1 ½ teaspoons Freshly Cracked Black Pepper
- •a pinch Salt for boiling water
- •2 tablespoons Reserved Pasta Water
Instructions
- 1Begin by roasting the black pepper in a dry pan over medium heat until fragrant.
- 2If you have a mortar and pestle process the whole peppercorn into small pieces. If you are using your pepper mill of course skip this step.
- 3Cook the pasta in a frying pan with just enough water to cover it, adding a pinch of salt, remember that the Pecorino Romano cheese is very salty.
- 4In another pan, VERY SLOWLY render the fat from the guanciale over low heat, making sure not to burn the lean parts.
- 5Once the pasta is nearly al dente, turn the heat off and leave the pasta in the water for a couple of minutes while you start making the sauce in the pan where the guanciale is.
- 6Reserve a couple of tablespoons of the pork fat and save for the end.
- 7Add about ¼ cup of the pasta water on top of the guanciale.