If you love Italian food, chances are you’ve heard of pancetta. But what exactly is it? Is pancetta just a fancy kind of bacon? Or is it something totally different? I’m here to clear up any confusion about this delicious cured meat!
Pancetta is an Italian pork product that is cured with salt spices and sometimes sugar. It comes from the belly of the pig, just like bacon. But unlike bacon, pancetta is not smoked. It has a richer, more complex flavor thanks to the curing process.
I’ll explain everything you need to know about pancetta, including how it’s made, how to cook with it, and some tasty recipe ideas. Let’s get started!
What is Pancetta?
Pancetta is an Italian cured meat product made from pork belly that is salt cured, sometimes with spices added for extra flavor. The pork belly is rolled up into a cylinder shape and cured for at least 3 months. This long curing time allows pancetta to develop deep, complex flavors.
The end result is a firm, richly flavored meat that is somewhat similar to bacon in appearance, but different in taste and texture. While bacon is smoked, pancetta is not. Pancetta has a deliciously porky, slightly salty, umami taste.
Some key facts about pancetta:
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Made from pork belly
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Cured but not smoked
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Seasoned with salt, pepper, spices
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Aged for at least 3 months
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Has a rich, meaty flavor
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Available rolled or sliced
There are two main types of pancetta – arrotolata and stesa. Arrotolata is rolled into a cylinder shape. Stesa is laid flat. The flat version is sometimes called pancetta affumicata since it is lightly smoked.
Now that you know what pancetta is and how it differs from bacon, let’s look at how it is produced.
How Pancetta is Made
Making pancetta is a time-consuming process that requires patience and skill. Here are the basic steps:
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Selecting the pork belly – Only high quality pork bellies are used to make pancetta. The meat should have generous streaks of fat running through it.
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Curing – The pork belly is cured by being rubbed with a dry mixture of salt, spices, pepper, and sometimes sugar. It cures for at least 3 months. This draws out moisture and intensifies the pork flavor.
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Trimming – Once cured, the rind and any dried bits are trimmed off. The pancetta is shaped as needed.
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Pressing – Rolled pancetta is tightly wrapped in twine to press it into the classic cylinder shape.
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Drying – After being pressed, pancetta is hung to dry for a few weeks which firms up the texture.
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Aging – Finally, the pancetta ages for several months to develop the complex cured meat flavors.
As you can see, making pancetta requires time, care, and high quality pork. When you taste it, you’ll appreciate all the effort!
How to Cook with Pancetta
Pancetta is very versatile in the kitchen. Its rich, fatty flavor enhances pasta, pizzas, sauces, soups, vegetables, and more. Here are some tips for cooking with pancetta:
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Add diced pancetta to pasta dishes for a meaty flavor boost. It’s delicious in carbonara, amatriciana, or arrabbiata sauce.
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Fry pancetta in olive oil and use rendered fat to sauté veggies like Brussels sprouts or green beans.
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Wrap chicken, beef, or fish in thin slices of pancetta before baking or grilling.
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Add chopped pancetta to soups, stews, beans, and risottos right before serving.
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Make a lardon by cutting pancetta into strips or cubes and rendering until crispy to add texture to salads, pastas, and pizzas.
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Substitute pancetta for bacon in recipes like frittatas, omelets, baked pastas, or quiche.
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Bake cubes of pancetta in the oven until crispy to use as a garnish over salads, pastas, or charcuterie boards.
A little pancetta can add so much flavor! Start with just a couple ounces and adjust to your taste preferences.
Pancetta vs. Bacon – What’s the Difference?
Now that you know what pancetta is and how to use it, you may be wondering how it compares to bacon. While both come from pork belly, there are some key differences:
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Curing – Pancetta is dry cured only. Bacon is brined or injected with a wet cure.
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Smoking – Bacon is smoked, pancetta is not. The smoke gives bacon its signature flavor.
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Flavor – Pancetta has a richer, more complex cured pork taste. Bacon is smoky and salty.
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Appearance – Both are pink-hued, but pancetta is a little darker. Bacon is striped from smoking.
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Fat – Since it’s not smoked, pancetta has very white fat while bacon fat is tinged pink.
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Texture – Pancetta is a little denser and chewy. Bacon is crisp and brittle.
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Uses – Bacon is most often eaten as a breakfast meat or in sandwiches. Pancetta is used to flavor all kinds of dishes.
Both have their place in the kitchen! Bacon is perfect when you want that smoky taste and crispy texture. Pancetta offers a more refined, elegant pork flavor.
Delicious Pancetta Recipes to Try
Ready to enjoy the wonders of pancetta? Here are some tasty recipes that highlight pancetta’s fantastic flavor:
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Pasta Carbonara – Toss hot cooked spaghetti with crispy pancetta, egg yolk, cheese, and black pepper. The rendered pancetta fat brings it all together beautifully.
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Pancetta Wrapped Shrimp – Wrap shrimp in thin slices of pancetta and bake until the shrimp are pink and the pancetta crispy.
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Pancetta and Goat Cheese Frittata – Make an Italian style omelet with pancetta, goat cheese, spinach, and herbs.
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Crispy Pancetta Brussels Sprouts – Roast shredded Brussels sprouts and cubes of pancetta until deeply caramelized and crispy around the edges.
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Pancetta Mushroom Risotto – Make a rich, creamy risotto and top it off with crispy diced pancetta right before serving.
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Pasta all’Amatriciana – Toss bucatini with a chunky sauce of pancetta, onions, red wine, and tomatoes. Finish it with Pecorino cheese.
The next time you come across pancetta at the market, grab some and experiment! Its depth of flavor can seriously elevate your cooking. Trust me, once you incorporate pancetta into a few dishes, you’ll be hooked.
Pancetta
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This cured Italian pork belly has a unique savory flavor that is different from both American bacon and guanciale, which are smoky and pungent. It’s also saltier and more heavily cured than American bacon.
Pancetta comes in two forms: arrotolata and tesa. The arrotolata pancetta comes in a tight log shape, while the tesa comes in a slab that looks like bacon. Pancetta comes from the belly of the pig, just like American bacon. But pancetta is rarely smoked. On the rare occasion that pancetta is smoked, it is known as pancetta affumicata. Even though they look a lot alike, pancetta affumicata is more heavily cured than American bacon, making it saltier and giving it a different taste. A mix of garlic, black pepper, juniper berries, and thyme is often added to meat along with the salt used to cure pancetta.
Pancetta is a better guanciale substitute than bacon because it isn’t usually smoked. Bacon can give your dish an unwanted smoky flavor. Still, Sasha warns you not to use anything else instead of guanciale in dishes like his pasta alla Gricia, where the rich, nutty fat of guanciale is the star. Some recipes, like Daniel’s pasta carbonara, are more flexible, and you can use any three of the pork products we’ve already talked about.
We usually tell people not to buy pancetta that has already been sliced or portioned out. You can find it at most grocery stores, but it’s usually not very good quality and has lost most of its flavor. Unfortunately, vacuum-sealed packages of pre-sliced pancetta are what you’re most likely to find at supermarkets. While usable, those products are not ideal. Italian specialty stores and other places that sell high-quality cured meats are good places to look for rolled or flat pancetta.
Bacon
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Different people have different ideas about what “bacon” means, and a lot of that has to do with where they are from. When people in the UK talk about bacon, they mean “back bacon,” which is cured and smoked pork made from pork loin (sometimes a bit of belly is included too). We’re used to American bacon, which is cured and lightly smoked pork belly. In the UK, it’s called “streaky bacon” or “side bacon.” “.
In the same way, “Canadian bacon” in the US refers to ham-like rounds of fully cooked, cured, and smoked loin meat.
Other culinary traditions have their own versions of bacon. As an example, Germany makes and sells a lot of different kinds of bacon, both smoked and not smoked. China also uses a lot of different kinds of cured pork belly.
The smoked, cured, and streaky bacon in the US is mild enough to eat on its own, but it also has enough fat to be great added to other foods. Also, bacon has less salt than the other foods we’re looking at, so adding bacon to a dish is less likely to make it too salty by accident. That said, a lower salt content means bacon will spoil more quickly than pancetta, guanciale, or salt pork. However, if you’re like me, bacon shouldn’t be left in the fridge for more than one or two days after you buy it. ).
Nubs of bacon cooked slowly in a skillet will get crispy and golden as the fat drains away. They will add texture and a salty kick to salads, soups, and pasta dishes. Braised in stock or sauce, that same bacon will melt into a fatty, meaty, unctuous consistency.
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Brines, which are usually salt and some kind of sugar (honey, molasses, brown sugar, etc.), can be wet or dry. They are used to cure bacon. ), and spices, as well as sodium nitrite that was made in a lab or, in the case of so-called “uncured” bacon, nitrates and nitrites that come from celery powder. While products like pancetta are simply cured, bacon is smoked after curing.
Even though it has about the same amount of fat as pancetta, bacon and pancetta are both much less fatty than guanciale. This is something you should keep in mind if you want to substitute. Because of its smokiness, bacon shouldn’t be swapped in willy-nilly in dishes that call for pancetta or guanciale. Should you still want to use bacon but want to tone down the smokeiness, briefly blanching it will do the trick. This is great when using smoked bacon for lardons in a beef bourguignon or a coq au vin. Sasha Marx, a former senior culinary editor, says that bacon should only be used as a substitute when the smokey flavor won’t become too strong and overpower a dish. Think garlic-heavy mirepoix and pasta sauces with plenty of tomato-flavor.
What is Pancetta & How To Make It | Video Recipe
FAQ
Is pancetta made from pork?
Does pancetta have beef?
What is the difference between prosciutto and pancetta?
What is the difference between bacon and pancetta?
Is pancetta a meat?
Pancetta (Italian: [panˈtʃetta]) is a salt-cured pork belly meat product in a category known as salume. In Italy, it is often used to add depth to soups and pastas. For cooking, it is often cut into cubes (cubetti di pancetta). In Italy, pancetta is commonly served as a sliced meat, sliced thin and eaten raw.
What do you need to know about pancetta?
Here’s what you need to know about it. What Is Pancetta? Pancetta is pork belly (the same cut of pork that bacon is made from) that is cured in salt and sometimes sugar and spices, including black pepper, cloves, nutmeg and cinnamon.
Does pancetta need to be cooked?
Pancetta is an Italian type of salt-cured pork belly. Black pepper, spices, or herbs may be included in the salt to add flavor. Pancetta is sold in slabs or in rolls that are tied up or put in a casing to keep their shape, then sliced into thin rounds. Unlike some cured meats such as prosciutto, it must be cooked before it can be eaten.
What is the difference between pancetta and cured pork?
They are both cured pork products with Italian heritage but are more different than they seem at first glance. Pancetta is made from pork belly that’s seasoned with salt and various spices, then rolled and cured, often with pepper or other flavorings. It’s typically eaten cooked, adding a rich, salty flavor to dishes like pasta or salads.