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Cacio e pepe is a technique problem wearing a three-ingredient disguise. The difference between a glossy, clinging sauce and a bowl of grainy clumped cheese is a matter of degrees — literally.
Gricia is the common ancestor of amatriciana and carbonara — no tomatoes, no eggs, nothing added across the centuries. Four ingredients, one pan, and a technique you can nail on the first attempt.
Amatriciana is not a Roman sauce — it is from Amatrice, a mountain town 150 km northeast of Rome, and the formula is fixed: guanciale, San Marzano tomatoes, Pecorino Romano, dry white wine, peperoncino. No onion, no garlic, no cream. The recipe below follows the original closely.
Aglio e olio is Neapolitan, not Roman — the 'Roman' label stuck because English-language cookbooks needed a dateline and it sounds better than 'Campanian pantry pasta.' Whatever you call it, five ingredients and 20 minutes is the contract, and the technique is the whole job.