Hi relatives, I am writing this post to recommend you this video and to put the video-recipe down in words. I shall be brief and painless. I only have one thing to say before I start: this is easily the tastiest easy meat-based pasta than you could ever make. Hence, give it a chance with your guests.

Disclaimer. Do not use pancetta nor bacon. It has to be guanciale. The flavour is completely different, lightly smoked and earthy, nutty… Heaven on Earth. In Sydney, you can find it in Harris Farm (I found it in two different shops, check the product at this link) and Crown Street Grocer (which has lots of top Italian imports and a fair price).

Ingredients. I think last time I made it for two people I used 200g of guanciale. The only other ingredients are spaghetti, a drop of white wine (best if dry), salt (for the pasta water) and pepper. The rule for buying good quality pasta, is to pick pastas that have at least 12.5 grams of proteins per 100g of product. A weak basic Barilla features only 11g, not to mention international brands. No, please, no. It will overcook and spoil your meal.

The recipe, in bullet points.

1. Cut skin of the guanciale (cotenna)
2. Cut the guancile in strips about .5 cm thick (no need for them to be cubes)
3. Put in pan. Nothing else: no butter nor oil go with it
4. Let it release its grease (the fat needs to melt)
5. Keep mixing it so that it cooks evenly and does not stick to the pan
6. When they are nice and golden, take the guanciale pieces out of the pan
7. Now the pan only contains the guanciale fat
8. Pour a little bit of white wine (less than half a glass) to take the edge off the taste of the fat
9. Max the heat
10. Use pecorino that is fairly fresh (not very seasoned and salty)
11. Grate it as thin as possible: it should look like a cloud!
12. When the alcohol has evaporated, put the pasta in the pan (when it is still a bit raw) . At this point, he removes some fat from it, I don’t… why lose flavour?
13. Add a bit of pasta water too, to finish cooking the pasta
14. Now grate black pepper on generously (the grey of the pepper gives the pasta its name)
15. Keep mixing and flipping the pasta
16. Turn heat off
17. Add 1/3 pecorino, mix
18. Put the cooked guanciale back in
19. Add 1/3 pecorino, mix
20. Add 1/3 pecorino, mix
21. Serve

Enjoy! Buon appetito.