Pasta Alla Gricia

1. Cook Pasta

Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil. Boil just enough water to cover the pasta during cooking, this will save you some time waiting for the water to boil and also ensure you have enough starch in the water for the next steps. Add just a pinch of salt given all of the salty ingredients in the dish and cook the pasta for 30 seconds to a minute less than the package suggests before draining. Make sure to save about a cup of the pasta water.

2. Render Guanciale

While the pasta is cooking, place a saute pan on the stove and render the guanciale over medium/low heat, stirring occasionally until the fat has come out of the pork and it’s starting to get crispy. Once done, remove from the heat and add some pasta water.

3. Drain Pasta

Once the pasta is cooked, drain it from the water and add to the pan with the pork along with about a half cup of the pasta water.

4. Sauce Pasta

Over medium heat, mix and toss the pasta in the pan while the sauce reduces. At this stage, a few critical things are happening. You’re finishing to cook the pasta, while also emulsifying and reducing the sauce. This emulsion between the pork fat and starchy pasta water will help the cheese to melt smoothly into the sauce.

5. Add Cheese

Once the water has reduced about 80-90% of the way, remove the pan from the heat. At this stage, add the cheese in portions while tossing and stirring until the cheese has all melted. The final texture of the sauce should be smooth and creamy if everything has gone right. If you find that the sauce is quite thick, simply add a bit of pasta water to loosen.

6. Serve

Once all of the cheese has melted, and your sauce is creamy, taste for seasoning and serve.