Pasta Alla Gricia 

Pasta alla gricia is famous all over the world, it is part of the ancient tradition of Lazio cuisine and is, not wrongly, considered as the mother of pasta all'amatriciana. From the latter, in fact, it differs only for the lack of tomato. The gricia is, therefore, a sort of white amatriciana, or white, creamy and tasty. The ingredients to buy for the original Roman recipe are: pork cheek, black pepper and pecorino romano. While for the shape of the pasta you can choose your favorite; I chose spaghetti because we love long pasta... 

Pasta alla Gricia is a typical dish of Lazio cuisine, which originates in the town of Amatrice, a town in Lazio on the border with Abruzzo. It is also called "amatriciana bianca" because it contains the same ingredients as the classic amatriciana pasta with the exception of tomato. In reality it is the amatriciana to be derived from the Gricia and not the other way around. Pasta alla Gricia is based on a few ingredients that must be very precise. In particular, pancetta and pecorino cheese from Amatrice must be used. In particular, the guanciale of Amatrice gives the Gricia a more delicate and fragrant flavor than the Roman one, not to mention the pancetta with its flavor completely alters its flavor.

Ingredients

400 gr of spaghetti 

250 gr of pancetta

150 gr of grated pecorino cheese 

1 tablespoon lard

pepper to taste

coarse salt to taste

How to make pasta alla gricia

In a pan heat a tablespoon of lard. Add the pancetta cut into strips of 2/3 cm in length and let it brown until it becomes nice crispy and the fat has not taken on a nice golden yellow color. Cook the pasta spaghetti in salted water and drain it al dente, keeping aside a glass of cooking water. Drain the pasta directly into the pan with the pancetta and mix well adding grated pecorino cheese, pepper and a little pasta cooking water to create the right emulsion. Serve the pasta alla gricia on plates, sprinkling with grated pecorino cheese and grating pepper.

TIP

One of the most common mistakes that is made when preparing pasta alla Gricia is to use cream. Cream should not be used in this recipe. If you do not have pancetta and pecorino cheese from Amatrice, you can replace them with guanciale and pecorino Romano.

The tablespoon of lard can be replaced with two tablespoons of extra virgin olive oil.