Considered the founder of the four Roman pasta dishes, pasta alla Gricia is the cornerstone Roman pasta for your carbonara, amatriciana, and cacio e pepe. The oldest of the “classic” Roman dishes, pasta alla Gricia is an excellent introduction to the pastas of Rome. Made with only 4 ingredients: pasta, guanciale, pecorino romano and black pepper!
You may have heard the saying “all roads lead to Rome”. Well, when it comes to pasta, you could also say “all Roman pastas lead to Gricia”. That’s because pasta alla Gricia is the oldest of carbonara, amatriciana, and cacio e pepe, and all three of those dishes trace their lineage back to alla Gricia.
In fact, la gricia existed before the amatriciana, because we know that tomatoes weren’t used in Italian cuisine until the 1800’s. Though it’s a recipe from the days of Roman lore, much like the Colosseum, it’s stood the test of time, and has as strong a presence as ever.
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🧀 Origins
Despite its place as the founding dish of the Roman pastas, the name alla gricia is somewhat of a mystery. Some say it originates from the town of Grisciano, in the region of Lazio, where the dish was first made by shepherds in the fields, because they had these ingredients with them – pecorino romano, guanciale and pasta.
Others say it derives from the Grici, a group of breadmakers/food merchants of Rome whose history supposedly traced back to the Grigioni canton of Switzerland. The grici, it is said, were poorer tradesmen, who would make pasta quickly and with few ingredients available, and so with pecorino, pork, and a little pepper, the dish became known as pasta alla gricia.
Whether any of this is true, I’m not so sure! For every tale told, there is another waiting to be heard. The truth of the origin remains with the secrets of history, but what is true enough is that alla gricia is a beautiful, silky pasta that is gave us the classic Roman pastas. As for where the name originates, I’ll leave that to your imagination.
🧾Ingredients
Gricia pasta contains only 4 ingredients:
- Pasta – I used mezze maniche which is a shorter version of rigatoni. It’s a very common shape to use for gricia, even though spaghetti is the most traditional to use.
- Guanciale – Guanciale is pork cheek or jowl and it tastes almost like bacon, but with a softer, and richer flavour. Because of its higher fat content, guanciale has an amazing, intense flavour that comes to life when the fat melts. It has a very unique taste, and guanciale gives the gricia a very distinct flavor.
- Pecorino romano – Pecorino romano is a cheese made with sheep’s milk (pecora means “sheep”), and is typical of most roman pasta dishes. Definitely use an authentic pecorino romano for this dish, not a domestic romano. It will make all the difference and also ensure that the pecorino doesn’t clump.
- Ground black pepper – Fresh ground pepper adds a bit of bite to this dish
📋 How to make pasta alla gricia – step by step
Bring a pot of water to boil. When it’s boiling, add salt. Throw the pasta in and cook until it’s before al dente (Cook for about half the indicated time on the package)– this is important because the pasta will finish cooking in the sauce. Be sure to reserve some pasta water.
Just before the pasta boils and you throw the pasta into the water, throw the guanciale into a large cold pan that will also fit the pasta (photo 1)
Turn the heat up to medium and let the guanciale cook until crispy – about 10-15 minutes (photo 2) Remove from the pan, but keep the rendered fat in. If the pasta isn’t ready by this time, remove the pan with guanciale from the burner.
Add the al dente pasta to the pan (still over medium heat) with the rendered guanciale fat. Add a ladle of pasta water as well (photo 3)
While the pasta is finishing in the pan, place the grated pecorino in a bowl, and add a bit of pasta water to it. Mix with a fork until a paste forms (photo 4)
Let the pasta cook for a few minutes, so it releases its starches and a creamy consistency starts to form when mixed with the guanciale fat. There should be a little bit of liquid left at the bottom of the pan, it shouldn’t be completely dry (photo 5) Remove the pan from the heat.
Add the pecorino paste to the pasta (photo 6) Mix with a wooden spoon.
If the pecorino cream needs to be thinned out a bit more, add more pasta water (photo 7)
Add the gunaciale (photo 8) and mix again until evenly distributed in the pasta.
Plate, top with additional black pepper and grated pecorino if desired (photo 9) Enjoy!
💭 FAQs
Pasta alla gricia is very creamy and silky, and has quite a bit of bite to it from the pecorino romano and black pepper. It also tastes a bit smoky from the guanciale. Due to the saltiness of its ingredients (pecorino romano and guanciale), it is also quite naturally salty.
Where is pasta alla gricia from?
Some say pasta alla gricia is from the town of Grisciano in the province of Rieti, in the region of Lazio. Others say it originated from the grici – a group of breadmakers/food merchants of Rome whose history supposedly traced back to the Grigioni canton of Switzerland. Either way, this dish’s origins are definitely from the Italian region of Lazio in central Italy.
How do you pronounce gricia?
It’s pronounced GREE-cha. Although most people from Rome/Lazio prnounce it GREE-sha, because Romans pronounce the “ch” sound as a “sh” sound.
👩🏻🍳 Top tips
- This dish is naturally very salty due to the use of pecorino romano and guanciale which contain a lot of salt. Besides lightly salting the pasta water, there is no need to add additional salt to this dish. Be prepared for this dish to be on the salty side.
- How to prevent the cheese from clumping:
- It’s important to use pecorino romano in this dish – not a domestic romano cheese. Pecorino romano is made from sheep’s milk and comes from Italy. A domestic romano is made from cow’s milk. You can identify an authentic pecorino romano because it usually has a black rind.
- Make sure to finely grate the pecorino, this will help ensure it doesn’t clump when mixed with the pasta
- The starch that the pasta releases will also help for a nice cream when mixed with the pecorino. Ensure to cook the pasta in the pan with the guanciale fat for at least a few minutes so the starch releases into the pan.
- Be careful when first transferring the pasta to the pan – because water mixed with the guanciale fat will splatter.
- When mixing the pecorino paste in with the pasta, feel free to add more pasta water if it needs to be thinned out a bit
🍝 More Roman pasta recipes
- Authentic carbonara recipe
- Authentic cacio e pepe recipe
- Pasta Alla Zozzona
- Penne Arrabbiata – Spicy Tomato Pasta
If you’ve tried making this Pasta alla gricia, or any other recipe on the blog, please let me know what you thought of it in the comments below, I love hearing from you! You can also FOLLOW ME on INSTAGRAM, FACEBOOK, TWITTER, AND PINTEREST to see more delicious food and what I’ve been up to.
Recipe
Pasta Alla Gricia
The oldest of the "classic" Roman dishes, pasta alla Gricia is an excellent introduction to the pastas of Rome. Made with only 4 ingredients: pasta, guanciale, pecorino romano and black pepper!
Ingredients
- 250 grams mezze maniche pasta
- 1 cup guanciale cut into strips
- 2 1/2 cups grated pecorino romano
- salt and pepper to taste
Instructions
-
Bring a pot of water to boil. When it's boiling, add salt. Throw the pasta in and cook until it's before al dente (Cook for about half the indicated time on the package)– this is important because the pasta will finish cooking in the sauce. Be sure to reserve some pasta water.
-
Just before the pasta boils and you throw the pasta into the water, throw the guanciale into a large cold pan that will also fit the pasta.
-
Turn the heat up to medium and let the guanciale cook until crispy – about 10-15 minutes. Remove from the pan, but keep the rendered fat in. If the pasta isn't ready by this time, remove from the burner.
-
Add the al dente pasta to the pan (still over medium heat) with the rendered guanciale fat. Add a ladle of pasta water as well.
-
While the pasta is finishing in the pan, place the grated pecorino in a bowl, and add a bit of pasta water to it. Mix with a fork until a paste forms.
-
Let the pasta cook for a few minutes until cooked to desired consistency (al dente), so it releases its starches and a creamy consistency starts to form when mixed with the guanciale fat. Add more pasta water if needed. There should be a little bit of liquid left at the bottom of the pan, it shouldn't be completely dry. Remove the pan from the heat.
-
Add the pecorino paste to the pasta. Mix with a wooden spoon.
-
If the pecorino cream needs to be thinned out a bit more, add more pasta water. Add the ground black pepper.
-
Add the gunaciale and mix again until evenly distributed in the pasta.
-
Plate, top with additional black pepper and grated pecorino if desired. Enjoy!
Recipe Notes
- This dish is naturally very salty due to the use of pecorino romano and guanciale which contain a lot of salt. Besides lightly salting the pasta water, there is no need to add additional salt to this dish. Be prepared for this dish to be on the salty side.
- How to prevent the cheese from clumping:
- It’s important to use pecorino romano in this dish – not a domestic romano cheese. Pecorino romano is made from sheep’s milk and comes from Italy. A domestic romano is made from cow’s milk. You can identify an authentic pecorino romano because it usually has a black rind.
- Make sure to finely grate the pecorino, this will help ensure it doesn’t clump when mixed with the pasta
- The starch that the pasta releases will also help for a nice cream when mixed with the pecorino. Ensure to cook the pasta in the pan with the guanciale fat for at least a few minutes so the starch releases into the pan.
- Be careful when first transferring the pasta to the pan – because water mixed with the guanciale fat will splatter.
- When mixing the pecorino paste in with the pasta, feel free to add more pasta water if it needs to be thinned out a bit
- I used mezze maniche in this dish, which is a shorter version of rigatoni. You can also use spaghetti if you’d like, which is another common shape used.
