A friend gave me some wonderful artisanal guanciale (cured pork jowl) so I just had to do a spaghetti carbonara for my friend Piglet. Recipes are all over the lot; some use cream, some butter, some neither. After surveying my cookbooks, I decided to go with the recipe in Marcella Hazan's nearly infallible Essentials of Classic Italian Cooking, which uses nothing but guanciale (or pancetta or bacon), eggs, a mixture of parmesan and romano cheeses and parsley. I had never used guanciale, but it is quite different from pancetta, which is cured (but not smoked) pork belly. The result was stunning: delicious with an earthy sweetness and unctuous texture quite distinct from pancetta. If you can find guanciale -- and these days you can -- be sure to give it a try.![](https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhqSdVkASQ4M4gkQdgWnkJ-HI0IW603efZsrPArZlwMl1cuuCIxdZtq1ANOT07JXOX57VLJoX7DtDAEqzDqSNJewxEY2LvZ5QIJZ7nVLcaQ9dloB9dqw21djff8Hq8eraCDwk5GFlR2Arms/s200/Spaghetti+Carbonara.JPG)
![](https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgozj4wucExjuA6qKq6cMbXjKp_x8Msz73Y4DvooRDi_Zlsv39Oo6_xxWjR5iOlCiF9yU2bMbPo29HSUvFA-k6gXG02Iga9mRaT8b0lo2I-KBOrpzERq1N4-r0Th3yzXfSXoBYgKdzgt38n/s200/Guanciale.JPG)
Guanciale and Spaghetti Carbonara
Bobby Jay
1 comment:
It was the first time I had actually eaten guanciale in the US, I am sure to have had some in a dish in Italy over the years. Great texture and rich mouthfeel--a big success!!
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