September is the month of figs, but with these crazy seasons this year the black figs are already ripe on the tree in my garden.
So I went out to pick some and tasting their sweetness it occurred to me that I could try to combine them with a variation of the famous Roman ‘gricia’ pasta.
After all, the union between the sweetness of figs and saltiness has already been experimented in Rome, just think of the famous pizza with ham and figs!
But I had never thought of putting them on a hot plate as a first course and so before recommending it to you I tried it on my skin and that of my family.
Recipe for tagliatelle alla gricia with black figs
Let's start by removing the peel from the figs and cutting them into pieces that we put in a container. We season them with salt, oil, pepper and perfume them with mint, thyme and lemon and let them flavor.
Take the guanciale and proceed as for a normal gricia: cut it into strips and put it in a pan over low heat to brown it. When the fat has melted, and the guanciale has become crispy, turn off the heat and remove it from the pan, leaving the fat in it.
Put the water to cook the pasta and in the meantime grate the pecorino romano cheese. When the water boils, lower the pasta which, being egg fettuccine, will cook quickly.
Relight the heat under the pan, drain the pasta and toss it in the guanciale fat, helping ourselves with the cooking water. Turn off the heat and add the pecorino and some of the figs and guanciale. Mix everything well and serve, adding the remaining figs and guanciale at the end. And finally, add a pinch of ground black pepper.
In the glass I put a Gavi di Gavi white wine.
Try it and believe it!
Provare per credere!
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