Rome's greatest little-known pasta dish is porky-peppery goodness and only 5 ingredients
1 pound rigatoni
1 teaspoon coarsely ground pepper, plus extra for serving
2 ounces pecorino Romano cheese, grated fine (1 cup), plus extra for serving
1. Slice each round of pancetta into rectangular pieces that measure about 1/2 inch by 1 inch.
2. Heat pancetta and oil in large Dutch oven over medium-low heat, stirring frequently, until fat is rendered and pancetta is deep golden brown but still has slight pinkish hue, 8 to 10 minutes, adjusting heat as necessary to keep pancetta from browning too quickly.
3. Using slotted spoon, transfer pancetta to bowl; set aside. Pour fat from pot into liquid measuring cup (you should have around 1/3 cup fat; discard any extra over 1/3 cup). Return fat to Dutch oven.
4. While pancetta cooks, set the colander in large bowl. Bring 2 quarts water to boil in large pot. Add pasta and cook, stirring often, until al dente. Drain pasta in prepared colander, reserving cooking water.
5. Add pepper and 2 cups reserved cooking water to the Dutch oven with fat and bring to boil over high heat. Boil mixture rapidly, scraping up any browned bits, until emulsified and reduced to 1 1/2 cups, about 5 minutes. (If you've reduced it too far, add more reserved cooking water to equal 1 1/2 cups.)
6. Reduce heat to low, add pasta and pancetta, and stir to evenly coat. Add pecorino Romano and stir until cheese is melted and sauce is slightly thickened, about 1 minute. Off heat, adjust sauce consistency with remaining reserved cooking water as needed. Transfer pasta to platter and serve immediately, passing extra pepper and extra cheese separately.
Recipe notes: Because this pasta is quite rich, serve it in slightly smaller portions with a green vegetable or salad.
For the best results, use the highest-quality pancetta you can find. If you can find guanciale, we recommend using it and increasing the browning time in Step 2 to 10 to 12 minutes. Because we call for cutting the pancetta to a specified thickness, we recommend having it cut to order at the deli counter; avoid pre-sliced or pre-diced products.
(For 25 years, confident cooks in the know have relied on America's Test Kitchen for rigorously tested recipes developed by professional test cooks and vetted by 60,000 at-home recipe testers. See more online at www.americastestkitchen.com/TCA.)
