Pasta alla Gricia

Serves 4

225 g (8 oz) guanciale, 1/2-inch-cubes.
2 g (2 tsp) freshly ground black pepper
110 g Pecorino Romano cheese, plus more for serving, freshly grated.
300 g (10-11 oz) of rigatoni. Use good stuff. I love any pasta from Gragnano.
2 L water
20 g diamond crystal kosher salt

Fry the guanciale in a pan over medium-low heat. If the fat starts smoking, turn down the heat. You want the outsides crispy and the insides tender, so don’t cook it too long. Reserve the fat. You should have found 80 mL of fat. (You don’t need to measure, just trying to give you an idea of how much you should have.) It should take around 15 minutes total, including heating the pan. You can do this earlier in the day and store at room temp if you like.

Add the cheese, pepper, and reserved guanciale fat to a large bowl, stir to combine, and set aside.

Add the water and salt to a pot and bring to a boil.

Add the pasta and cook to just under al dente. If it’s an American brand of pasta, take the al dente time and subtract two minutes. If it’s an Italian brand, use their al dente time.

When the pasta has two minutes cook time remaining, transfer 60-120 ml (2-4 oz) of the pasta water to the bowl and whisk to dissolve the cheese and emulsify the sauce. Add the water a little at a time. You want the sauce to be glossy and the consistency of warm maple syrup or a starch slurry. You want it to stick to the noodles. If it looks too thick, add a little more water. Add the guanciale.

Transfer the pasta to the bowl, and stir to combine. The sauce will thicken a little. I set the bowl over the pasta pot so it keeps everything warm. If you do this, turn the pasta pan to low, or else the cheese will coagulate.

Divide among 4 bowls and serve with extra cheese and a grind or two of pepper.

Notes

• To see what guanciale looks like and how to prepare it, watch the first minute of this video.

• Use guanciale. Not pancetta. Not bacon. Guanciale. If you’re ordering from a deli or grocery delivery service (I use Mercato to deliver Eataly) tell them not to slice or dice it for you.