Pasta alla Gricia Recipe

5 from 1 vote

Pasta alla Gricia is the oldest of the four classic roman pastas with its beautiful emulsified sauce made from guanciale and pecorino romano.

Servings people

Prep Time 5

Cook Time 15

Total Time 20

cut the guanciale into about 1cm thick slices and then cut the slices into stripes.
150 grams Guanciale
use a microplane or another grater and finely grate the pecorino romano. The finer the pecorino is grated, the easier it will dessolve into the sauce later.
50 grams Pecorino Romano
grind the black pepper into a medium frying pan and toast the pepper at medium-low heat until you can smell the floral fragrances from the pepper. Always keep the pepper moving and tossing in the pan so it won't burn.
2 tsp black pepper

bring about 1.5 liters of water to boil. AdThen add 1tsp of salt. You don't need more salt here, as the guanciale and the pecorino romano are already quite salty.
1.5 liters water
add the pasta and cook about 1-2 minutes less than al dente or written on the packaging. The pasta will finish cooking in the sauce later.
200 grams Rigatoni
In the meantime, fry the guanciale in a medium frying pan at medium-low heat. The goal is to render out the fat and slowly frying the guanciale. Take the guanciale out of the fat before its turning too crispy and put it on some kitchen paper to drain off the excess fat. Keep the fat in the pan.
Put the stove a low heat, put in the ground pepper and mix together.
When the pasta is 1-2 minutes before being ready, keep some pasta water and put aside or keep the water in the pot. Put the pasta into the frying pan and mix together with the fat. Keep adding some starchy pasta water until you've a creamy emulsion.
Put the guanciale back in and mix together. Keep some for decoration as well.
turn of the stove and keep the pasta rest for about 30-60 seconds until there is no more sizzling.
add half of the pecorino romano and mix together with additional pasta water until you've a creamy sauce. Add the second half and repeat. The sauce should be on the thinner side, as it will thicken again later after served.
dish the pasta on the plates, top with the rest of the guanciale and finish with some extra grated pecorino on top. Enjoy!

Author: Fabian

Calories: 890kcal

Cost: 24

dish: Hauptgericht, Main Course, Pasta

Cuisine: Italian, Italienisch

Keyword: alla gricia, italian pasta, pasta alla gricia, roman pasta dish