Roman Pasta alla Gricia

As promised, here is the recipe for one of our favourite pastas. This pasta is a cross between cacio e pepe and carbonara. It has no egg at all, but the guanciale gives it a lovely crunchy texture and deep flavour. It takes less than 30 minutes to prepare and only needs 4 ingredients.

RECIPE

350 g of rigatonipasta
200 g of guanciale
110 g of pecorino cheese
Blackpepper

Bring a large pot of water to a boil. Usually when the water starts to boil, you add a generous amount of salt, but since this recipe uses pecorino cheese, which is already very salty naturally, be sure to be more conservative with the amount of salt. Grate the fresh pecorino cheese and set it aside. Start cutting the guanciale into thin strips. Place the guanciale in a cold pan and fry until golden brown and crispy ( do not use any other oil, as guanciale is very greasy). When the guanciale is perfectly crispy, remove the pieces of guanciale with a slotted spoon and set aside (leave the fat from the guanciale in the pan!). When the pasta is al dente (2 minutes before it's ready), drain it and be sure to save some of the pasta water. Add one ladleful to the pan with the guanciale fat and stir. Add the pasta to the same pan and turn the heat on until everything is mixed. Then turn off the pan and add the grated pecorino and stir well. Add the guanciale and a generous amount of black pepper and continue to stir.

Serve and eat immediately!