A slight adjustment was made when I realized that I could use a pork belly rather than fat back; pork belly is much easier to come by here in south OC.  What you are looking at here is the end result of 10 days of dry cure and another 18 days hanging, wrapped in cheese cloth, in a refrigerator turned to the very lowest temperature.  There were many pix of this process, but they are no where to be found.   I especially liked the one showing this, with it’s white cheesecloth wrapping, hanging next to duck breasts becoming prosciutto and another pork belly on it’s way to being pancetta.   However, the cured pork belly, without photo documentation, became a board solid piece of pork which sliced easily into thin strips for this recipe for Penne with Lardo adapted from one I found on thecookbookblog.com, which was adapted from one found in La Cucina: The Regional Cooking of Italy.

Do you know how to easily peel tomatoes?  If so, skip down to the next section!  If not: cut an X in the bottom of each tomato.  Then, plunge the tomatoes into a pot of boiling water for 20-30 seconds; then plunge the tomatoes into a bowl of ice water.  The skin should peel away easily, starting from the edges of that X, once cooled enough to handle.  You can now cut out the stem end and use any way you want.  For this recipe, quarter the tomatoes, scoop away the seeds, and chop the remaining tomato pulp into a rough dice.

In a large skillet, add 1 cup of extra virgin olive oil and the diced pork belly/lardo.  Cook over a gentle heat until the pork fat begins to loose its color; add the chili flakes and tomatoes, cover, and cook for 30 minutes.  Add the ziti, toss and heat through, and put it in a serving bowl.   Grate with a generous sprinkling of the best Parmesan you can find, then serve!  I thouroughly enjoyed this pasta; with the slow cooking of the lardo and tomatoes you even get the flavor of the thyme used in the cure.  It is just sublime.

And, below is what I consider to be representational of the glory of this Charcutepalooza experience.  As I was waking up the morning of the Ziti with Lardo dinner, in the fog before I was concious, the thought flew through my head: We should make mozzerella, too.  And, above on the late season tomatoes from my friend Linda’s garden, and below just after stretching, it the result of that thought.  And, that will be yet another, future post.