Rigatoni alla gricia

Method

1. 1 Cut the pork cheek into 1 cm thick strips and fry them in a dry pan for 10 minutes over low heat.
2. 2 Remove the crispy pork cracklings and keep all the rendered fat; that fat will be the sauce for the dish.
3. 3 Gricia has only four ingredients: pasta, pork cheek, Pecorino cheese, and peppers; no eggs, no tomatoes, no cream.
4. 4 Roast coarsely ground pepper in oil for 40 seconds, then add two ladlefuls of noodle broth and shake the pan to emulsify the oil.
5. 5 Boil the noodles for 2 minutes less than the instructions, then transfer them to a pan and stir-fry for 2 minutes.
6. 6 Turn off the heat completely, then sprinkle in Pecorino cheese and shake the pan. Sprinkling it while still on the heat will cause the cheese to clump together.