Pancetta the New Frontier

I am not a big fan of Italian food or Italian wines so this post is about just that. Noel and I bought some pancetta at one of our recent visits to Russo's. I decided to make a Cabonara sauce to go with the pancetta, so I quickly looked up a recipe on my phone while at the market to make sure that I got everything I needed while I was out. The joy of smart phones, I always look up recipes while shopping, it's great I let the shopping tell me what to get, not the recipe. Tonight's meal came from my favorite website Foodnetwork.com, and is courtsey Tyler Florence, Spaghetti alla Carbonara. I have made a few Alfedro sauces but never a carbonara so needless to say I was excited to try. This sauce and meal was very easy to make and took no time to make.

What you need:

1 Box spaghetti 

2 tablespoons olive oil

4 ounces pancetta (aka Italian BACON!!!!) cubed into small pieces

4 cloves garlic, finely chopped

1 cup freshly grated Parmigiano-Reggiano, plus more for serving

2 Eggs

Fresh ground pepper

1 Handful fresh chopped parsley

Boil salt water for the pasta. After its starts to cook (should take about eight minutes so start the next phase about five minutes later) heat the oil on medium heat in a deep skillet and add the pancetta. Cook about three minutes until the pancetta is crispy and fat is rendered. Add the garlic until the kitchen smells like Italy (about one minute). By this point the pasta should be done, drain it (but keep half cup of the water to add to sauce when done) and add it to the skillet for about two minutes and toss it so the pasta gets coated in the yummy pancetta fat. As this is happening take take the two eggs and Parmigiano-Reggiano and whisk it together making sure to break up any large chunks. Take the the skillet off the heat and quickly whisk in the cheese/egg mixture and slowly add the left over water to help thin out the sauce. Mangia!!! I felt like I had just ordered this from The North End. At first Noel thought this may be to much garlic but it came out perfect. This may help me change my view on Italian food.

The wine that went with dinner tonight was La Botte Dell'Abate a Montepulciano D'Abruzzo. I had a wine tasting at Greenwood Wine and Spirits in Wakefeild. Joanne, the manager, was there, so before she left for the day, I asked her for her recommendation. She too is not a huge Italian wine fan, even though she herself  is Italian-American, so when she said this was a good wine I knew it was the one for tonight. This was a good wine for the price ($13.99). It has lot of full, rich dried cherries, leather and smokey cured meats, with a nice long sweet herbal finish and soft tannin. This is a Riserva wine, in Italy that means it has been barrel-aged

in large oak casks, which helps give it a nice, spicy fragrance and softer tannin. Although I am not a huge fan of Italian wines, I am a fan of this wine.