Suckling Pig Carbonara

D. and I are keeping our promise to our little suckling pig to make it delicious, and not to waste a bit. Earlier this week we were craving pasta carbonara, and I thought, what better way to put our suckling pig pancetta to use? Not only was it super easy, we were able to make our meal in less time than it would have taken to order take out from the Italian restaurant down the street!

There was enough fat in the pancetta so even frozen I was able to dice up what I needed, and return the rest to the freezer. As I gently sauteed the pancetta with garlic and olive oil, D. got the spaghetti cooking. Then we tossed the boiling hot spaghetti with the pancetta and finished it with beaten egg, parmesan cheese, and fresh chopped parsley. It was my first time making carbonara so I have to admit the spaghetti was a little too hot and curdled the egg, but adding a little pasta water helped to loosen it and coat the pasta better. I’ll know better for next time – either wait a bit for the spaghetti to cool or temper the egg with some of the pasta water before mixing it in.

The flavor was all there though – creamy and eggy, with little bits of salty herbed pancetta and parmesan, balanced by the fresh crisp parsley. The suckling pig pancetta was so tender we barely had to cook it. One pound of spaghetti made enough for four servings. Many thanks to my sister for giving us these great Glasslock containers for Christmas. The next day, we just took the lid off the container, popped the whole thing in the oven to reheat and enjoyed it just as much as the day before.