Pasta alla Gricia

Preparation

1. 1

   dice your guancaile into strips and remove the outer layer if it’s covered in seasonings and extra salt

2. 2

   start by cooking down your guanciale low and slow, you want to render the fat...there’s not a ton of substitutions for this luscious meat but I suppose you can use pancetta you may need to add some oil/butter

3. 3

   once your meat is cooked down remove from pan and turn up heat...now add about 1/2 cup white wine and let it cook off. The wine will help balance the richness of the fat and add some acidity

4. 4

   prepare your pasta: you want a nice sturdy spaghetti or bucatini don’t forget to reserve some pasta water, also, you do not need to salt the water the other ingredients are salty enough

5. 5

   in the meantime, freshly grate your block of pecorino Romano (not Parmesan) this is a saltier cheese...you want a lot of this maybe 2-3 cups grated

6. 6

   add guanciale (reserve a handful to put on the top of your finished dish) back to pan and alternate adding a little pasta water, parm, pepper, until you form a nice sauce...do this on little to no heat! The pasta water should be hot though

7. 7

   our sauce took about 3-4 round of adding cheese so be patient