Pasta alla Gricia (Rigatoni with Pancetta and Pecorino Romano) for Two
By Annie PetitoPublished on September 5, 2018
Time
35 minutes
Yield
Serves 2
Ingredients
Before You Begin
Because this pasta is quite rich, serve it in slightly smaller portions with a green vegetable or salad. For the best results, use the highest-quality pancetta you can find. If you can find guanciale, we recommend using it and increasing the browning time in step 2 to 10 to 12 minutes. Because we call for cutting the pancetta to a specified thickness, we recommend having it cut to order at the deli counter; avoid presliced or prediced products. For the best texture, serve the pasta immediately.
Instructions
- Slice each round of pancetta into rectangular pieces that measure about ½ inch by 1 inch.
- Heat pancetta and oil in large saucepan over medium-low heat, stirring frequently, until fat is rendered and pancetta is deep golden brown but still has slight pinkish hue, 8 to 10 minutes, adjusting heat as necessary to keep pancetta from browning too quickly. Using slotted spoon, transfer pancetta to bowl; set aside. Pour fat from saucepan into liquid measuring cup (you should have about ¼ cup fat; discard any extra). Return fat to saucepan.
- While pancetta cooks, set colander in large bowl. Bring 6 cups water to boil in large pot. Add pasta and cook, stirring often, until al dente. Drain pasta in prepared colander, reserving cooking water.
- Add pepper and 1 cup reserved cooking water to saucepan with fat and bring to boil over high heat. Boil mixture rapidly, scraping up any browned bits, until emulsified and reduced to 3/4 cup, 3 to 5 minutes. (If you've reduced it too far, add more reserved cooking water to equal 3/4 cup.)
- Reduce heat to low, add pasta and pancetta, and stir to evenly coat. Add Pecorino and stir until cheese is melted and sauce is slightly thickened, about 1 minute. Off heat, adjust sauce consistency with remaining reserved cooking water as needed. Transfer pasta to platter and serve immediately, passing extra pepper and extra Pecorino separately.
Time
35 minutesYield
Serves 2Ingredients
Ingredients
Ingredients
Why This Recipe Works
Pasta alla gricia is a simple pasta dish based on cured pork, black pepper, and Pecorino Romano. The fat from the pork (guanciale is traditional, but easier-to-find pancetta works well) combines with starchy pasta cooking water and cheese to create a creamy sauce for the pasta. The traditional method is to let parcooked pasta finish cooking in the sauce, where it will release its starch for body, but the technique can be finicky. For consistent results, we cooked the pasta to al dente in half the usual amount of water and then added the extra-starchy pasta cooking water to the rendered pork fat and reduced the mixture to a specific volume. The boiling action further concentrated the starches in the water and emulsified the mixture before we mixed in the pasta.
Before You Begin
Because this pasta is quite rich, serve it in slightly smaller portions with a green vegetable or salad. For the best results, use the highest-quality pancetta you can find. If you can find guanciale, we recommend using it and increasing the browning time in step 2 to 10 to 12 minutes. Because we call for cutting the pancetta to a specified thickness, we recommend having it cut to order at the deli counter; avoid presliced or prediced products. For the best texture, serve the pasta immediately.
Instructions
- Slice each round of pancetta into rectangular pieces that measure about ½ inch by 1 inch.
- Heat pancetta and oil in large saucepan over medium-low heat, stirring frequently, until fat is rendered and pancetta is deep golden brown but still has slight pinkish hue, 8 to 10 minutes, adjusting heat as necessary to keep pancetta from browning too quickly. Using slotted spoon, transfer pancetta to bowl; set aside. Pour fat from saucepan into liquid measuring cup (you should have about ¼ cup fat; discard any extra). Return fat to saucepan.
- While pancetta cooks, set colander in large bowl. Bring 6 cups water to boil in large pot. Add pasta and cook, stirring often, until al dente. Drain pasta in prepared colander, reserving cooking water.
- Add pepper and 1 cup reserved cooking water to saucepan with fat and bring to boil over high heat. Boil mixture rapidly, scraping up any browned bits, until emulsified and reduced to 3/4 cup, 3 to 5 minutes. (If you've reduced it too far, add more reserved cooking water to equal 3/4 cup.)
- Reduce heat to low, add pasta and pancetta, and stir to evenly coat. Add Pecorino and stir until cheese is melted and sauce is slightly thickened, about 1 minute. Off heat, adjust sauce consistency with remaining reserved cooking water as needed. Transfer pasta to platter and serve immediately, passing extra pepper and extra Pecorino separately.
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