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Pancetta Delivery or Pickup
The Instacart guide to pancetta
About pancetta
Pancetta is cured pork belly and is often referred to as Italian bacon. It's unsmoked and cured in a variety of spices along with salt and pepper. After it's cured, pancetta is dried for a few months. Stores sell pancetta raw, and depending on how long it was cured, it needs to be cooked.
In the United States, you'll most likely find pancetta in two forms:
- Arrotolata. This pancetta is rolled with the fat and muscle spiraling around each other. It's cut into paper-thin slices and used in a variety of dishes.
- Tesa. Tesa pancetta comes in a slab similar to American bacon, but with the fat mostly on one side. When you buy it this way, chop it into cubes or dice before adding it to a dish. You might also find this type of pancetta already chopped into cubes, so it's ready to use when you get it home.
Pancetta's flavors are similar to bacon, but it doesn't have the smokiness you find in most bacon. Since it's not smoky, the flavor is not as overpowering, and it works well in a wide variety of dishes.
Use Instacart to find pancetta in both forms. You can get it delivered the same day, so you can add it to the dinner menu!
Pancetta cooking tips
The cooking method for pancetta depends on how you want to use it. If you want crispy slices, cook it in a skillet starting at a low heat. Turn up the heat once some of the fat renders out. Pancetta tends to curl, so it can be a challenge to get it crispy all over.
If you don't want it to curl, take a sheet pan and line it with parchment paper. Lay pancetta slices on the parchment and then put another piece of parchment on top, then lay another sheet pan on top of this. Bake at 400 F for about 20 minutes.
Pancetta is versatile and is easy to incorporate into your cooking.
- Wrap slices of pancetta around seafood, meat, or vegetables before cooking. This will add some extra crunch and make a dish more savory.
- Cook up cubed pancetta in a saute pan to render the fat and then add garlic and onions and make it the base for a soup or pasta.
- Add cooked cubed pancetta to a tomato pasta sauce along with some pecorino cheese to add depth of flavor.
- Use thinly sliced pancetta to make cups to hold eggs or other fillings. Just drape the slices over the back of an overturned muffin tin, and cook in the oven for about 10 minutes at 400 F. Let cool for about 10 minutes and then remove from the muffin tin, turn over, and fill with scrambled eggs, or place it inside the muffin tin, drop an egg in the cup, and pop it back in the oven until the egg is cooked how you like.
Pancetta is probably best known for pasta carbonara. When making carbonara, you'll want to cube the pancetta and cook it in a skillet to render the fat. You can use both the cooked pancetta and the fat to give carbonara some great flavor.
Pancetta Near Me
Buy your favorite Pancetta online with Instacart. Order Pancetta from local and national retailers near you and enjoy on-demand, contactless delivery or pickup within 2 hours.
FAQs about pancetta
A whole piece of pancetta will stay good in the refrigerator for over 10 days. Keep it in a closed container and wrap it in a cloth. If it's sliced, cover it with food paper and eat it within two days. If you need to keep it longer, pancetta freezes well before it's cooked. Just wrap a few slices together in individual packets before putting it in the freezer so you can thaw out the amount you need.
If you have a slab of pancetta, cut it into manageable chunks before popping it in the freezer. Make sure it's wrapped up tightly, and it will last in the freezer for several months.
Use your nose and your eyes to determine when your pancetta is finished cooking. Thick cubes will take about five minutes to cook, while thin slices take only two minutes per side. When it looks crisp around the edges and dark in color, it is done.
Fresh pancetta is pink and damp. If it's dry or has any discoloring, it is not good. The fat should always be white or have a creamy color, not yellow. Ensure the rind is thin and elastic, and if it is wet or slimy with an unpleasant smell, it is no longer good.
Use Instacart to shop for pancetta and other ingredients for the perfect Italian meal. It can usually be delivered within a few hours so you can get cooking!