Serves 4 · Approx. 30 minutes · Medium difficulty
Gricia is an essential Roman recipe: pasta, guanciale, Pecorino Romano, and pepper. No tomato and no cream. The difficulty isn't the shopping list: it's finding the right temperature to emulsify the sauce.
Ingredients
- 360 g rigatoni or mezze maniche
- 180 g guanciale
- 110 g finely grated Pecorino Romano
- Freshly ground black pepper
- Salt for the pasta, a little
Method
- Cut the guanciale into strips and place it in a cold pan without adding oil.
- Turn the heat to medium-low and let some of the fat melt for 8–10 minutes, until the strips are golden. Remove them and set aside, leaving the fat in the pan.
- Cook the pasta in lightly salted water. Reserve a cup of pasta water before draining.
- Transfer the al dente pasta to the pan with the guanciale fat, add a little pasta water, and toss briefly over low heat.
- In a bowl, create a cream by mixing the Pecorino with small amounts of pasta water that has been allowed to cool slightly.
- Turn off the heat, wait a few moments, and add the cream to the pasta, mixing and adding a little warm water if needed.
- Finish with the crispy guanciale and a generous grind of pepper. Serve immediately.
How to prevent the Pecorino from clumping?
Do not add the cheese directly to a boiling hot pan. Too high a temperature causes the proteins to clump together. Mix off the heat and adjust the consistency little by little.
Gricia and amatriciana: what's the difference?
In short, amatriciana also includes tomato, while gricia is based on guanciale and Pecorino.
Can you use pancetta?
You can make pasta with pancetta, but the result won't have the same flavor and won't be traditional gricia.
Discover cacio e pepe as well, or check out our guide to restaurants in Rome.