Important lesson learned of the week: Pancetta is not a leafy green. It is not a variety of pasta. If you see it on a menu as accompanying your dish, it is not a variety of leek. It is not a thin, wafer like bread. It is not a seed.
Pancetta is a variety of bacon. The major difference is that it is cured, but not smoked. But never fear! The same bacon taste that you have come to know and love still exists in abundance in every delicious piece of pancetta. So order with confidence!
Image courtesy pancetta.org
(Actually, the image pretty much is pancetta.org)
14 responses so far ↓
1 Rufus T. on Jan 11, 2008 at 10:10 am
I have been told lies all of my life!! Pancetta is not a leafy green?! No!!!!!!
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2 Botchinator on Jan 11, 2008 at 10:59 am
I think it’s staring at me, in a mean way.
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3 Krunchy on Jan 11, 2008 at 11:11 am
The real question is …
Has it ever made it to the top of Mount Everest ?!?
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4 fan on Jan 11, 2008 at 11:18 am
The Pancetta’s Eyes look like Disembaudio’s
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5 "Sticks" on Jan 11, 2008 at 11:34 am
My mouth is watering. Fortunately, the Italianness of the meat has me talking with my hands.
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6 Edgewriter on Jan 11, 2008 at 11:36 am
I say bacon, you say pancetta- no, wait . . . .
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7 SLP on Jan 11, 2008 at 11:46 am
Do it yourself!
Pancetta
TIME/SERVINGS
Total: 35 mins, plus 3 weeks for curing and hanging
Active: 35 mins
Makes: 1 pancetta (around 4 1/2 pounds)
Pancetta is cured pork belly, the Italian equivalent of bacon. Unlike American bacon, however, pancetta is cured with a variety of herbs, spices, and garlic, and is left unsmoked. Pancetta is usually rolled and tied in a cylindrical shape, then hung to dry. Some versions, such as the variety made in Florence, are left flat. Ours is the rolled kind, and it’s smashing when prepared with our Pasta Carbonara with Peas. If you’re visually inclined, see our illustrated step-by-step guide.
A whole fresh pork belly with the skin on weighs around 11 pounds, of which you’ll need half (a 5-1/2-pound slab) to make 1 pancetta. If you like, you can ask your butcher to remove the skin for you, making the total prep time minimal.
Curing salt, also known as pink salt or saltpeter, contains 6.25 percent sodium nitrite. It is colored pink so as not to be confused with regular salt.
We like to use kosher salt in our recipes. It’s especially important to use kosher salt here to ensure that your quantity is correct.
Special equipment: In addition to your chef’s knife, you’ll also need a boning knife to remove the skin. Be sure to have a spool of cotton butcher’s twine for tying and hanging your pancetta.
We found that giant storage bags, like these jumbo 2-gallon bags by Ziploc, were perfect for holding the pancetta during the curing process.
Game plan: Find a cool place to hang your pancetta, away from windows and direct sunlight. And of course make sure you allow enough time for the curing and hanging processes.
INGREDIENTS
* 1 (5-1/2-pound) piece of fresh, skin-on pork belly (1/2 of a whole belly slab), or 1 (11-pound) whole belly
For the cure:
* 2 tablespoons whole black peppercorns, plus 1 tablespoon for after curing
* 2 tablespoons whole juniper berries
* 1/3 cup kosher salt
* 3 tablespoons dark brown sugar
* 2 teaspoons curing salt
* 1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg
* 3 garlic cloves, minced
* 3 fresh or 5 dry bay leaves, torn into small pieces
* 2 teaspoons fresh thyme leaves
* 1 tablespoon fresh rosemary leaves
INSTRUCTIONS
1. If you’re starting with a full (11-pound) piece of fresh pork belly, slice it in half crosswise to make two (5-1/2-pound) pieces. You only need one half for this project, so seal up the other well with plastic wrap and freeze it for up to 6 months.
2. Place the pork belly meat side up. Using a sharp boning knife, make the piece more level by trimming off any extra bits of muscle or fat. Square off the edges with a chef’s knife.
3. Rinse the pork belly and pat it dry. Place it on a cutting board, skin side up. To remove the skin, use a sharp boning knife. Starting at the bottom left corner, slice in horizontally just under the skin but above the fat layer. Pull the flap of skin toward your body, holding it taut as you loosen it from the fat with a series of small horizontal cuts. Be careful not to remove too much fat or cut too deeply. (Pulling the skin toward you as you cut helps prevent this.)
4. Keep cutting until the skin is completely removed, then use your knife to even out the fat layer a little.
5. Place the 2 tablespoons of peppercorns and the juniper berries on a rimmed baking sheet. Use a heavy pot to crush them. Combine them in a mixing bowl with the rest of the cure ingredients. Mix the cure very well to evenly distribute the ingredients.
6. Place the pork belly on a rimmed baking sheet and rub the cure all over its surfaces, making sure to coat both the fat and lean sides, and all the edges and corners. Carefully place the belly in a large (2- to 2-1/2-gallon) sealable bag. Once it’s inside, rub the belly to redistribute the ingredients that may have fallen off while you moved it. Fold over the excess plastic and press down to remove as much air as possible. Seal the bag. (Alternatively, you may place the cure-coated belly in a glass baking dish and cover tightly with plastic wrap.)
7. Place the bagged pork belly on a baking sheet and place it in the refrigerator. Weight it by placing a pot or dish that is roughly the same size as the pork right on top of the bag, and place a 3-pound weight in the dish. (A box of salt or a few cans of tomatoes work great.)
8. Refrigerate the weighted belly for 7 days, flipping it over every day. After 7 days, remove the belly from the refrigerator and press down on it to check the firmness. It should feel uniformly firm throughout, as if you’re pressing down on a soccer ball. If the belly is still squishy like raw meat, return it to the refrigerator for up to 3 more days.
9. Remove the pork belly from the refrigerator and rinse off the curing mixture under cool running water. (It’s OK if there are still a few bits of pepper or spices on the belly.)
10. Move the pork to a clean cutting board and pat it very dry with paper towels. Place it meat side up. Crush the remaining tablespoon of black peppercorns with a heavy pot and rub the crushed pepper over all the meat sides to create an even coating.
11. Roll the pork belly very, very tightly into a cylindrical shape, starting at whichever end makes the roll most uniform. Make sure there are no air pockets inside the pancetta. Tie it very tightly with butcher’s twine at 1- to 1-1/2-inch intervals. Be sure to leave enough extra twine to hang the pancetta with.
12. Hang the pancetta in a slightly cool, dark, moderately humid place where air can circulate freely around it. (Ideal conditions are around 60°F and around 60 percent humidity.) Keep it out of direct sunlight and away from air vents. A basement is ideal, as is a bathroom that isn’t used often (a shower curtain rod works great for hanging, but not if you’re showering in there!). We hung ours both next to the kitchen sink and in the bathroom, and we never had one pancetta go bad.
13. Let the pancetta hang for 2 weeks. It will emit a subtle smell, sort of savory and sweet like the cure. If it smells rancid or rotten, take it down and trash it. When the pancetta is completely firm but pliable like leather, it’s ready.
14. Cut down the pancetta and wrap it tightly in plastic wrap. Store it in the refrigerator for 2 to 3 weeks, or in the freezer for up to 4 months.
Note: Pancetta is not meant to be eaten uncooked. Be sure to cook it, just as you would bacon, before eating.
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Reply from Sherry on January 11, 2008:
who are you? Alton Brown? You can eat pancetta uncooked from the deli, but it tastes like uncooked bacon smells , with a twist of dirty socks. It ain’t half bad cooked though, but not worth the self rightous price..
Reply from Sherry on January 11, 2008:
oops, maybe I’m confusing it with prosciutto. Oh well. I know one of them (made in Italy) was actually banned from the states until recently. …..someone tell me the difference between the two? I have been remiss in my food network viewing lately.
8 Neb on Jan 11, 2008 at 12:00 pm
Eek! Smoking salmon is a lot less complicated….
Pancetta, prosciutto…those Italians and their funny names for bacon and ham!
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9 MarkAndrew on Jan 11, 2008 at 12:13 pm
Now for those of us who lack the critical meat hooks and curing sheds to make this at home….what dining establishments on the West coast serve this lovely super-bacon?
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Reply from Conor Lastowka on January 11, 2008:
It was part of the Halibut dish at The FleetWood, which is a block away from Petco Park if you’re ever at a Padres game. They cure it in-house.
10 SarahCanuck on Jan 11, 2008 at 12:38 pm
Ewwww. Oh Lord, now there’s an appetite suppresant.
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11 Geena on Jan 19, 2008 at 1:48 pm
Pancetta is the Elvis of cured meats.
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