Fettuccine alla Gricia

Jul 30

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The Fettucine

320g 00 flour/AP flour

80g semola rimacinata

210g eggs (add a few yolks if you want a richer pasta)

Mix ingredients together and knead until smooth.
Wrap with plastic wrap and allow to rest at room temperature for an hour.
If the dough isn’t becoming smooth, knead it as much as you can, then wrap it in plastic and allow it to rest for 15 minutes. Once rested, continue to knead and your dough should come together easily. Cover once again in plastic and allow to rest for an hour.
Divide your dough into four. Using a sheeter, run one of the pieces of dough through the thickest setting.
Fold it in half and run it through again. Reduce the thickness setting and sheet the pasta again. Fold this sheet in half and run it on the thickest setting again. Repeat this process until the dough is very smooth and even.
Run the pasta through on thinner settings each time until the pasta is about 1-1.5mm thick (#6 setting on KitchenAid sheeter). You may need to dust your sheets with flour. Use as little as possible.
Cut the sheet into lengths of 10-12” and place flat on a table cloth or kitchen towels to allow them to dry (about 1-2 hours).
Repeat this process for each of the pieces of dough.
Once all the dough is rolled out, pass each sheet through the fettuccine cutter attachment. You can also cut by hand by rolling up each end of the sheet lengthwise and cutting the appropriate width (6mm).
Bundle the pasta into 75g nests (2 nests per person) and place on a lightly floured (use semolina) tray. Allow to rest in the fridge uncovered.

The Sauce

250g guanciale (or pancetta if you can’t find it), cut into 1cm cubes

200g pecorino romano, grated (the better quality this is, the better your sauce will be)

50g parmigiano reggiano, grated (same here)

Freshly ground black pepper

Salt

Fill a large pot of water about 3/4 full and heat to a boil for the pasta. Don’t salt it quite yet.
In a sauce pan, render the guanciale over medium heat. Make sure each piece is touching the pan. Be patient, and allow the guanciale to brown before turning them over to finish rendering in it’s own fat. Once browned on both sides, remove from the pan an reserve.
In a small bowl, mix both cheeses together. Remove 50g of the grated cheese and reserve for later. Using an immersion blender, blend the cheese with a small ladle of the hot water you have heating for the pasta. Add just enough water to make a thick cheesy cream.
Add the cream to the pan with with guanciale fat (no heat). Crack as much black pepper as you like to into the mixture
Salt the pasta water and cook the pasta. Should only take 1-2 minutes. Remove the pasta and add it to the pan as well as the rendered guanciale. Turn the heat on medium and saute with the remaining 50g of cheese. Toss the pasta vigorously to emulsify the sauce. If the sauce is a bit too thick, add a little bit of pasta water.
Plate the pasta and garnish with more pepper and cheese.

Pizzoccheri della Valtellina