Pecorino Romano

Three ingredients. Infinite technique. The Roman pasta that humbles every chef who underestimates it.

Guanciale, San Marzano tomatoes, Pecorino Romano. Rome's other great pasta. Use bucatini if you can find it.

Pancetta instead of guanciale. Easier to find, slightly more smoky. Not traditional but honest.

Same flavor profile, different format. The risotto amplifies the pepper and the starch helps create an even silkier sauce.

One egg yolk added per serving makes the sauce richer and helps with emulsification. Somewhere between carbonara and cacio e pepe.

Replace half the guanciale with 'nduja, the spreadable Calabrian pork sausage. The sauce turns orange-red and deeply spicy.

Cashew cream and nutritional yeast replace the Pecorino. Skeptical? So was I. Now it's my weeknight go-to.