This Underrated Pasta Dish Features One Of The Easiest Italian Sauces You Can Make
There aren't many of us who can say no to pasta — we chomp our way through about 20 pounds per person every year, making it the base of various recipes. But there is one which flies under the radar and we think is deserving of the spotlight. Affectionately known as the "mother of all pasta dishes," pasta alla gricia is one of the simplest recipes to knock together, and tastes incredible.
Pasta alla gricia is definitely not on our list of foods Americans think are Italian (but aren't). It has its roots — so the stories go — in and around the town of Amatrice, almost smack-dab in the center of Italy, where it was created by local shepherds from the handful of ingredients they carried with them in the mountains. That amounted to pasta (of course), Pecorino Romano cheese, pepper, and a kind of cured pork jowl called guanciale.
Guanciale is what elevates this humble, rustic dish to the next level. After being seasoned with salt, pepper, and herbs such as rosemary and sage, the fatty pork is hung for almost a month. Don't make the mistake of presuming this pork is a kind of fancy pancetta or bacon. They come from the belly or sides of a pig, rather than the cheeks, and have very different flavor profiles. Guanciale's flavor is much more intense and, when cooked, its rendered fat joins forces with the cheese and pasta water to become the mouthwatering coating for the pasta, finished off with a grind of fresh black pepper.
While the meat matters for pasta alla gricia, the pasta ... not so much
By this point you've figured out that the unctuous pork is the backbone of this peasant dish. Don't, for the love of every nonna within sniffing distance, fry it on too high a heat. It will overcook and your guanciale will taste bitter, trashing your pasta dish. You want the fat gently rendered at medium heat until the meat has just turned crisp.
As for pasta shape, you can stick with the traditional rigatoni alla gricia if you want to keep it old school, but bucatini, mezze maniche, tonnarelli, and even good ol' spaghetti will all work too. Just be sure to cook the pasta al dente. Likewise if you're all out of Pecorino, nobody will mind if you grate in some authentic Parmesan.
While there's an awful lot to like about this rich, belly-filling Italian recipe, the best thing of all about pasta alla gricia is it gave rise to two of the world's most beloved pasta recipes. When tomatoes finally made their way to Italy, it was transformed into amatriciana, while the simple addition of eggs to the original ingredients created carbonara. We gratefully tip our hats to those hungry shepherds.
@matrago Pasta alla Gricia – Recipe Below! The second stop on our Roman pasta journey! Follow @matrago more great recipes and food content! Ingredients (2 Servings): 200g spaghetti 100g guanciale (or pancetta if you can't find guanciale) 3/4 cup Pecorino Romano 1-2 tbsps freshly cracked/ground black pepper Salt Instructions: Place your pasta in boiling & salted water. Render your guanciale until crispy, leaving the rendered fat in the pan. Remove some guanciale for serving. Grate your Pecorino Romano very fine and grind your black pepper. Add your black pepper to frying pan, bloom for a few seconds and then add some pasta water. When your pasta is al dente, remove it from the water and place in your pan. Incorporate your cheese into the pan with more pasta water – stirring vigorously. Continue adding cheese and pasta water until you've reached a creamy sauce. Add some guanciale before finishing and serving. Serve with more cheese and pepper and some of that extra guanciale. #gricia #pasta #pastarecipe #cheese #creamy