Mezzi rigatoni alla gricia

Here is Chef Stefano Bartolucci’s version of this classic Roman dish that we pair with a wine from the Marche region: Marche Impero Blanc de Pinot Noir 2021 Fattoria Mancini.

Ingredients for 4 people:

360g mezzi rigatoni, 200g guanciale (cheek jowl) 100g pecorino Romano and coarse pepper as needed.

Directions:

Cut the guanciale into small strips and brown them in a pan without any oil until they become crispy. Transfer the guanciale from the pan to a plate. The grease remaining in the pan will be used later to season the pasta.

Put 50g of pecorino into a container together with 50ml of warm water and mix with a whisk or blender until it becomes a thick and creamy sauce.

Cook the pasta until it is al dente (slightly undercooked), drain and put into the pan with the guanciale grease. Add a half ladle of the pasta water, mix together and heat.

Once the liquid reduces add in half of the crispy guanciale and mix together for a minute then remove the heat and let it sit for a minute. It is important for the pasta to sit so it cools enough that the cheese does not coagulate at 55°C and become stringy.

Add the remaining 50g of pecorino Romano, mix together again and then serve putting some of the pecorino cream sauce on top with the remaining crispy guanciale strips. Sprinkle some coarse black pepper on top.

Wine to pair:

(by Stefania Vinciguerra)

Marche Impero Blanc de Pinot Noir 2021

Bright yellow color. Lively aromas of yellow plums and aromatic herbs, elegant notes of flint. Rich and powerful in the mouth, yet perfectly balanced, intense progression and fresh, smooth finish.

Production area: in the DOC area of the Colli Pesaresi Focara Pinot Noir, Fontebocale vineyard, near the village Fiorenzuola di Focara, in the Natural Park of Mount San Bartolo. Distance from the coast 1Km, altitude 100/150 meters above sea level, deep soil, high sand component, calcareous, silty. 

Grape variety: 100% Pinot Nero.

Harvest: last week of August, first week of September. Hand harvested into grilled baskets of 15Kg. Transportation in baskets in a mobile cooling cellar equipped with an independent motor. The cooling cellar was transported to the vineyard every morning, allowing the grapes to be cooled as soon as they were harvested. The cellar then returned to the winery in the evening to continue the cooling process during the night. Yield 4.5 tons/Ha.

Vinification: the grapes were whole bunch pressed at 9°C; must was extracted until 50% in weight of the grapes. The must was cold settled and then racked without the use of a clarifying agent. Fermentation took place in barrel at a temperature of around 18°C, in a temperature controlled cellar, malolactic fermentation completed. Maturation 12 months in barrel (20% new oak) on lees with regular lees stirring. 

Alcoholic content: 14% vol.

Serving temperature: 10-12°C.

Notes: The Impero wine, “Empire” in Italian, is the culmination of more than forty years of experience in the production of a still white vinification of Pinot Noir and moreover the result of the will to produce an important white wine only using the varieties traditionally grown by the family. Since the first release, with the 1998 vintage, it has quickly become the flagship wine of the winery.