Bucatini all'Amatriciana with Crispy Guanciale and Pecorino Cream

Method

1. Trim the rind and pepper crust off the guanciale, slice it 0.7 cm thick and cut into 1.5 cm batons. Crush the tomatoes by hand, picking out any hard cores, grate the pecorino very finely (a microplane is ideal) and coarsely crack the peppercorns with the flat of a knife or in a mortar.

2. Bring the water to the boil in a 20 cm pot over high heat, about 12 min, then add the salt.

   Add in this stepWater for the pasta 2½ LCoarse salt (for the pasta water) 18 g

   high heat

3. Toast the cracked pepper in a dry 26 cm frying pan over medium-low heat for 1 min until fragrant, then tip it into a small bowl. Put the guanciale into the same pan without oil and render it on the same heat for 11 min, turning now and then, until golden and crisp outside but still slightly chewy inside. Lift it out; if there is a lot of fat (enough to cover the base deeply), pour a little off.

   Add in this stepBlack peppercorns ½ tspGuanciale (cured pork cheek) 100 g

   medium-low heat

4. Turn the heat up to medium-high heat, fry the chili flakes for 10 seconds, then pour in the wine and scrape up the browned bits; reduce for 1 min until the alcohol has cooked off.

   Add in this stepChili flakes (peperoncino) 1 pinchDry white wine 50 ml

   medium-high heat

5. Add the tomatoes and simmer over medium heat for 12 min, until the sauce is deep red, glossy and beads of red fat form at the edges. Set aside a third of the guanciale for the top and stir the rest back into the sauce.

   Add in this stepGood canned whole peeled tomatoes (San Marzano type) 300 g

   medium heat

6. Cook the bucatini in the boiling water for 9 min: lift them out 2 minutes before the packet time, because they finish cooking in the sauce.

   Add in this stepBucatini (or thick spaghetti) 200 g

7. Make the pecorino cream: put most of the pecorino and half the toasted pepper in a bowl and whisk in pasta water a spoonful at a time (let it cool for a minute off the boil first) until you have a smooth cream like thick yogurt.

   Add in this stepPecorino Romano 48 g

8. Move the bucatini into the sauce with a splash of pasta water and toss over medium-high heat for 2 min, keeping everything moving as they finish cooking. When the sauce clings to the pasta, turn off the heat, wait 30 seconds and quickly stir in the pecorino cream. Plate and top with the reserved crispy guanciale, the remaining pecorino and pepper.

   Add in this stepPecorino Romano 12 g

   medium-high heat