Description
The classic Italian dish prepared with pasta that is grain-free.
Ingredients
- 1 pack of Cappellos Fettuccine, or the lectin-free pasta of your choice (even homemade)
- 1 lbs (or less) of fresh or cured pork belly or other suitable replacement (even good quality bacon will work, or pancetta)
- 1 whole pasture-raised egg and 1 extra yolk
- 1/3 cup of grated Pecorino Romana (you can also use Pecorino Toscana or Parmigiano Reggiano or a mix of two)
- Lots of coarsely ground black pepper (I use about 1 tsp, even more, I love the peppery taste)
- 1, 2 garlic cloves
- zest from one lemon (optional but a tasty addition)
Instructions
- Prepare a pot with boiling water for the pasta (make sure you have the water ready before your pork belly is cooked) – because Cappellos fettuccine is ready in 90 seconds and are not good if overcooked, so you have to be fast and precise here.
- In a frying or sautéing pan (big enough so you can add the pasta later), start cooking the cubed pork belly. Because mine is fresh it takes a little while. Add a whole crushed garlic clove. Just mix regularly and let it cook at medium to low heat.
- Meanwhile, prepare the sauce base. Whisk the 1 whole egg with the one extra yolk, add the grated cheese and lots of fresh ground pepper. Add salt if your pork belly is not cured or salted. Whisk well and set aside.
- Once the pork belly is cooked (I like it crispy, but be careful it can burn fast), most of the fat should be melted. I remove the extra fat (put it in a jar and use it later for other dishes), leaving only enough to cover the pan and have a base for the sauce. I remove the garlic clove (I just need it to give some flavor to the fat). Now Italians cook the guanciale or pancetta in olive oil, but with the fresh pork belly I think it’s not necessary.
- When I return the pork belly to the stove (after I removed the extra fat), I set the heat to the lowest setting. I add the pasta to the boiling water and use my phone timer to give it 90 seconds, not longer.
- After 90 seconds I add the pasta to the pork belly pan, adding a little bit of pasta water with it (few tablespoons). Turn the heat off, or take the pan to a non-heated surface. Add the beaten eggs, lemon zest if using and cheese mixture to the pasta and mix well. If necessary add few more tablespoons of pasta water. This is actually the tricky step of the recipe because you don’t want your eggs you get scrambled, you want them to coat the pasta and be creamy (just make sure your pan is not on heat). That’s it, you should serve immediately, this makes 4 small(ish) portions, depending on if it’s your main dish or you serve it as Italians do in very small portions.
Notes
The 1 lbs of pork belly sound like a lot, but once all the fat is melted, the quantity of meat is not that big. You can certainly use less than this without affecting the quality of the final dish.