Guanciale

A really good guanciale is a must for your carbonara and pizza. Like all our other products, we’ve been on the hunt for an incredible guanciale to offer. The challenge has been finding something of very high quality that we can sell in smaller pieces. 

Pedrazzoli are such heroes and have come through with this one. By the way, Pedrazzoli is one of our favourite producers and we can't recommend them enough. 

Guanciale is air-dried pork cheek, and when it comes from a quality producer like Pedrazzoli, you don't even need to cook it. It's delicious as is, on a sandwich or whatever else.

On pizza, it can be thinly sliced and added before or after baking. We usually go for thin slices or shredded pieces. If the guanciale is going in the oven, it should be a bit thicker so you can get a nice, crispy surface without it drying out and becoming bland. When it comes to pizza with guanciale, we like to keep things simple. Think Fior di Latte, Pecorino, basil, olive oil, garlic, and finally the guanciale. This is incredibly delicious.

For the carbonara, you'll want to fry it relatively slowly. A tip is to drain off the fat periodically, which can then be used for the sauce. Once the guanciale is crisp, let it "dry" on a bit of paper. Be warned, the end result is likely as addictive as drugs, so be careful. And no, not all guanciale tastes the same, regardless of the product. The difference is huge. 

Don't forget to trim off the skin and the "yellow" fat before cooking the meat. The weights are approximately plus/minus 50 grams, just so you know.