I’ve had an obession lately with animal cheeks.
Yes, I realize that sounds a bit odd, but I mean it in the “order it as an entree” sense, not the “I want to run up to a pig and squeeze it on the cheeks” sense.
Over the last few weeks, anytime I’ve been in a restaurant and “cheeks” have been on the menu, that is what I’ve ordered. It started when I recently had the veal cheeks at Eric Ripert’s new restaurant in Washington, DC. Then last weekend I ate at Bouchon in Las Vegas and had the beef cheeks – they were so rich and delicious that I couldn’t even finish the dish.
So imagine my excitement when a friend of mine from work brought me some guanciale he had picked up in New York over Thanksgiving. It has been the gift that keeps on giving…at least for the meals I’m cooking at home this week.
Guanciale is an Italian-style bacon made from cured pig jowls or cheeks (unsmoked). Guancia is the Italian word for cheek. From Wikipedia:
“Pork cheek is rubbed with salt, ground black pepper or red pepper and cured for three weeks. Its flavor is stronger than other pork products, such as pancetta, and its texture is more delicate. Guanciale is traditionally used in dishes like pasta all’amatriciana and spaghetti alla carbonara. It is a delicacy of Central Italy, particularly Umbria and Lazio.”
Guanciale not only has a lovely sweet taste, but it also smells nice. Rarely does a package of raw bacon smell exceptionally delicious, but when you open a package of guanciale you are greeted with a very pleasant aroma. And it looks pretty.
Thanks to my friend’s generosity, I’ve got enough guanciale to get me through a few meals. So for my first meal with it this week, I decided to make pasta all’amatriciana.
I based my preparation loosely on a Mario Batali recipe, but I was missing a few ingredients and had to make some substitutions. I’m lazy and haven’t been feeling very well this week, so going to the grocery store was out of the question (even though there is one on the same block as my apartment building – pathetic, I know). Usually this dish is made with bucatini pasta, but that’s not exactly the kind of pasta I’ve usually got laying around the apartment. Linguine had to do. So rather than traditional Bucatini All’Amatriciana, I present you with my version – Lazy Girl Pasta All’Amatriciana.
Lazy Girl Pasta All’Amatriciana
Serves 2 (leftovers – woo hoo!)
Time to prepare: Less than 30 minutes (take that, Rachel Ray)
-1/4 cup cubed guanciale (can substitute with pancetta; standard bacon might also be OK, but would definitely change the flavor of the sauce)
-Approx. 1/4 cup chopped onions (use whatever amount fits your personal preference – I’m not a huge onion person, so I tend to use less)
-1 garlic clove, minced
-1/2 cup canned tomato sauce (I use Hunt’s – if you have some homemade tomato sauce laying around, good for you and use it because obviously that is better)
-1 medium sized tomato, chopped
-1/2 tsp red hot pepper flakes
-Salt and pepper to flavor
-4 to 6 fresh parsley leaves
-Some sort of noodly pasta (use bucatini if you want to prepare this dish the traditional way; I used linguine – spaghetti would also work just fine)
-Grated Parmiggiano Reggiano to garnish
Brown the guanciale in a saucepan over medium heat. Remove the guanciale and place it on a paper towel lined plate to drain the excess grease. Keep the remaining grease in the saucepan and add the onions and garlic. Saute until the onions are translucent. Add the tomato sauce, chopped tomatoes, red hot pepper flakes, parsley leaves, salt, pepper, and guanciale to the saucepan and let the sauce simmer for about 20 to 30 minutes. In the meantime, cook the pasta. When everything is done, serve the sauce over the pasta with some grated Parmiggiano Reggiano (or whatever parmesan cheese you happen to have on hand) on top.
Buon appetito!
(More guanciale adventures to come this weekend…)