Pasta all'Gricia / Spaghetti with Bacon and Cheese

This month I'm going to do a series on the great Roman pasta recipes. I'll be making 4 dishes; Pasta all'Gricia, Carbonara, Cacio e Pepe and all'Amatriciana.

Tonight I'm making Pasta all'Gricia. Pasta all'Gricia is 1 of the 4 "Seriously Roman" pasta dishes you must try. The recipe comes from Grisciano, a small beautiful town in the mountains of the Lazio region, see map below. While least famous of the group, many will say that it's their favorite!

Ingredients:

1/2 pound Barila spaghetti

2 tablespoons salt

1/3 pound gaunciale, a cured meat made from pork jowls or cheeks. Gaunciale is not generally available in the US, so pacetta is the closest substitute. However, even pacetta can be hard to find so I'm using:
1/2 pound bacon.
2 crushed garlic cloves

1/4 teaspoon red pepper flakes

1/4 cup fine grated Parmesan or Romano Cheese
Italian parsley

Preparation:

Take a 12" saute pan and heat to medium high. Cut the bacon into 1/3 inch pieces and add to the saute pan. Cook the bacon until crisp, but not burnt. When cooked add the garlic and red pepper flakes, toss and remove from the heat. Remove 1/3 of the amount of bacon from the pan and save for garnish. Remove all but 1 tablespoon of the bacon fat from the pan.

Take a large stock pot and fill with water. Add 2 tablespoons salt and bring to a boil. Cook the spaghetti according to directions, which is usually 9 - 10 minutes to al dente, firm to the bite. When done, drain the spaghetti reserving 1 cup pasta water.

When the pasta is done, heat the 12" saute pan to medium high and add the spaghetti to the bacon, garlic and red pepper flakes and toss for a minute. Add the cup of reserved pasta water, toss for 30 seconds. Sprinkle the cheese on the pasta and toss. Add and some salt and pepper and to taste and toss for 30 seconds until piping hot and you're done.

To serve, place a portion of pasta on a serving plate and garnish with crumbled bacon, Parmesan or Romano cheese and chopped Italian parsley.