Panceta (or pancetta) is the belly of the pig, it is bacon without being smoked. But this name changes depending on the region. The end result depends first and foremost on buying a beautiful piece that is very fleshy. When I find it I don’t think twice. You can’t imagine the flavor of this after baking! It usually comes in the form of a blanket, but I’ve bought it in pieces. As I froze it in portions, I didn’t look at the original packaging to see what the weight was, but here I had 6 large pieces, more than enough for 2 people.
I seasoned it the day before preparing it with:
- 1 tablespoon of crushed garlic;
- 1 tablespoon of sugarcane molasses (can be honey);
- Juice of 1 lemon (it was very juicy);
- 1 tablespoon of soy sauce (shoyu);
- 1/2 tablespoon of spicy paprika;
- 1 tablespoon of olive oil;
- Salt and black pepper to taste).
I put the meat in an oven-safe cellophane bag, threw the seasonings in, mixed well and left it in the fridge.
A trick when preparing meat that is in the fridge is to take it out half an hour beforehand so that it doesn’t go into the oven or pan chilled, otherwise it will lose liquid and become dry.
I left it in the oven at 220ºC for 35 minutes, then took it out of the bag and left it for another 30 minutes until the top leather was golden brown. I’m lucky I didn’t add about 3 kilos or I would have eaten it all!
I’ve also made braised pancetta (on the barbecue) with a simpler seasoning, but no less delicious, see
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