Pancetta Pasta Recipe With Cream Sauce

Pancetta pasta is an Italian pasta dish flavored with rich, salty pancetta. Pancetta is seasoned, salt-cured meat cut from the pork belly (the pig’s underside). Pancetta is light pink with a dense, silky texture and nutty flavor. You’ll find it sold in thin slices in Italy and most oftenly cubed in the United States.

Pancetta pasta and pasta carbonara both feature salty cubes of cured pork, but carbonara uses guanciale, not pancetta. Guanciale and pancetta may look similar, but they come from different parts of the pig: Pancetta comes from the belly, and guanciale comes from the jowl. Learn how to make traditional pasta carbonara.

Use the tips below for savory pancetta pasta:

1. 1. Add other ingredients to the pasta dish. Pancetta adds plenty of salt and flavor to the pasta dish, but other ingredients, such as kale, fresh tomatoes, Parmesan cheese, or seasoned breadcrumbs, add more depth and variety of flavor.
2. 2. Cook the pasta al dente: Meaning “to the tooth,” al dente is an Italian term meaning to undercook the pasta, then finish cooking it in the sauce with some pasta cooking water. Cook the pasta dish in this manner allows the pasta to soak up the flavors of the sauce as it finishes cooking.
3. 3. Salt the pasta water. Many pasta recipes call for salting the water like the ocean. However, since the pancetta is plenty salty, moderately salt the pasta cooking water. Make it salty enough that it seasons the pasta but not so much that the final dish is over-salted.

Get creative with sauces for pancetta pasta and try any of the three serving sauces below:

1. 1. Serve pancetta pasta with a cream sauce. There are a few different ways to achieve a cream sauce, such as a bechamèl or thickening heavy cream. Either way, flavor the cream sauce with garlic, Parmesan or pecorino cheese, freshly ground black pepper, and a pinch of nutmeg. Finish cooking the pasta in the cream sauce, so it absorbs the flavors. The starch from the pasta water will help thicken the sauce naturally.
2. 2. Serve pancetta pasta with pesto. Pesto is a classic Italian condiment using fresh basil, garlic, extra-virgin olive oil, pine nuts, and Parmesan cheese. The earthy, nutty flavor from the pesto pairs well with the salty pork flavor of the pancetta. Pesto is traditionally an uncooked sauce, so toss the pasta and any additions with the pesto after it cooks.
3. 3. Serve pancetta pasta with tomato sauce. Use San Marzano or other plum tomatoes to make a fresh tomato sauce for pancetta pasta. The sweet acidity of tomatoes balances the umami in pancetta. Add heavy cream to the tomato sauce for a creamy tomato sauce, or leave it pure with just tomatoes, salt, pepper, and Italian spices.