Spaghetti Alla Gricia Recipe - Tasting Table (2024)

FAQs

What's the difference between carbonara and gricia pasta? ›

The biggest thing that sets these recipes apart is eggs – pasta alla gricia has none! Carbonara includes an egg and cheese mixture, emulsified by the pasta water, to create the silky sauce. Alla gricia uses cheese and the guanciale's fat that mix together and become a decadent sauce for your pasta.

Gricia is simple and focused on the luscious guanciale fat with a dusting of pecorino, while cacio e pepe loses the meat and adds more cheese and pepper for rich sauce, add an egg and keep the meat and you have indulgent carbonara, skip the egg and add tomatoes for hearty amaratriciana.

Origin of the name

Pasta alla gricia then would mean pasta prepared with the simple ingredients (guanciale, pecorino romano, and black pepper) readily available at the local gricio. Another theory about the origin of this dish claims that it was invented in the hamlet Grisciano, in the region of Lazio, near Amatrice.

There are four classic Roman pasta dishes: carbonara, cacio e pepe, amatriciana, and alla Gricia. Each uses slightly different techniques and ingredients and has its own place in the canon of Italian food. Here is a brief breakdown of these iconic Italian pasta dishes. 1.

Guanciale is the most commonly used meat for the dish in Italy, but pancetta and pancetta affumicata are also used and, in English-speaking countries, bacon is often used as a substitute. The usual cheese is pecorino romano; occasionally Parmesan, Grana Padano, or a combination of hard cheeses are used.

You want the cheese to be almost snow-like, which will allow the cheese to more easily emulsify into the sauce. I use about a 2:1 ratio of Pecorino Romano cheese to Parmesan cheese for this recipe, which in my opinion provides the most balance of saltiness to the final sauce.

Three of the iconic pastas of Rome have their differences, but the use of Pecorino Romano sheep's milk cheese is the common denominator. Carbonara, Cacio e Pepe and Amatriciana are the holy trinity of Roman pasta dishes on restaurant menus.

Amatriciana, Carbonara, Cacio e Pepe: The Roman Holy Trinity of Pasta. There are four great Roman pastas, all connected: Gricia, Cacio e Pepe, Carbonara, and Amatriciana. They each play off of the others and reveal different sides to the same concept.

It's just pork, pepper, pasta, and cheese, and the sauce itself is little more than an emulsion of rendered pork fat and starchy water. Knowing that, you need to go with the brash pork that adds the most funk and flavor. (That's not to say that you can't make gricia with pancetta.

Pasta alla gricia wine pairing recommendation

For white, look towards the hills of Abruzzo, and fresh and zippy Trebbiano. This white is crisp enough to cut through the richness of the pork and its acidity pairs well with aged cheeses – making it a great match for the pecorino in this dish.

What is the oldest known pasta dish? ›

Testaroli has been described as "the earliest recorded pasta". It is also a native dish of the southern Liguria and northern Tuscany regions of Italy. Testaroli is prepared from a batter that is cooked on a hot flat surface, after which it may be consumed.

The iconic quartet of carbonara, cacio e pepe, amatriciana and gricia make up the four most famous and beloved Roman pasta dishes.

Spaghetti is the most popular pasta in Italy–at least according to a July 2021 poll by the Unione Italiana Food ranking the country's top ten pasta shapes. Spaghetti nabbing the number one spot will hardly come as a shock; it's undoubtedly the pasta shape most strongly associated with Italian cuisine.

Barilla Pasta is Italy's largest dry pasta brand and dominates the European and American markets. With a long-standing reputation as one of the best Italian pasta brands in the United States, Barilla's products are made with high-protein durum wheat flour, ensuring top quality.

Whole-Wheat Pasta

Also called whole-grain pasta, this type of pasta keeps the bran, endosperm, and germ of the grain together. It's filled with fiber, vitamins, and minerals. This helps you feel full longer and keeps your blood sugar from spiking.

Gricia is pork-forward; the noodles are punctuated with chewy bits of meat and glossed with its savory fat, as well as the pepper and cheese. Carbonara adds an egg, which makes the “sauce” creamy, while amatriciana loses the egg and adds tomatoes, their acidity balancing the richness of the pork and cheese.

Alla Gricia

Almost like carbonara, but without the eggs, alla gricia is what you make when you don't want to go to the store. Bacon, cheese, and cracked black pepper come together into a super glossy sauce that clings to pasta in all the right ways.

Pasta is a type of Italian dish made from an unleavened dough of durum wheat flour and water. It comes in many shapes and sizes, such as spaghetti, fettuccine, and penne. Spaghetti carbonara is a specific dish made from spaghetti pasta tossed with a sauce made of eggs, cheese, pancetta (or bacon), and black pepper.

Alfredo is made from butter, parsley, heavy cream and minced garlic, whereas carbonara is made from pecorino romano, eggs, black pepper and guanciale (ingredients seem to vary for the sauces depending on the recipe). In Italy carbonara is made without cream, adding cream to the sauce is an American thing it seems.