Rigatoni with Guanciale

Serves 2

Ingredients

• ¼ cup robust olive oil
• ½-1 tsp fennel seeds, ground by hand
• 6 oz guanciale, thinly sliced
• 1 red onion, cut in half then sliced into ¼” arches
• 3 cloves garlic, sliced
• ¾ tsp red pepper flakes
• 5-6 grinds of black pepper
• 1-1/2 cups organic marinara sauce
• ½ lb rigatoni
• Pecorino Romano, freshly grated

Method

1. Bring 3 quarts of water to a boil in a large pot and add 2 tbsp salt.
2. In a large sauté pan over low heat, combine the olive oil and fennel seeds, until warmed. Add the guanciale, onion, garlic, red pepper flakes, and ground black pepper. Continue cooking over low heat until the onion is softened and guanciale has rendered most of its fat, 10-12 minutes.
3. Leaving about a ¼ cup of the fat in the pan, add the marinara sauce. Bring to a boil, then lower the heat and simmer for 6-7 minutes.
4. While simmering, cook the rigatoni in boiling water until still very firm. Drain.
5. Add the rigatoni to the sauce and toss for about a minute until it is all coated.
6. Serve with grated cheese on the side.

Notes

•  I used a robust olive oil, Hojiblanca, from A Bit of Taste in Snohomish. I like the extra layer of complexity, but most oils will work.
•  Fennel grinding done with mortar and pestle.
•  The pepper I had at the moment was a combo of three different peppercorns, one of which had a bite, so I used ¾ tsp of red pepper flakes. If using just black pepper, you might want to up the amount of red pepper flakes. I found this ¾ tsp plus the ground pepper to be a good amount of spice.
•  Instead of tossing the fat from the sauté pan, I saved it and fried eggs in it the next morning. Nice flavor. Tip came from a Mario Batali recipe.

SD! Test Kitchen/February 24