December Recipe of the Month

Pork Jowl and Truffle linguine

This is a real favourite at the Shooting Grounds on the Christmas menu.  We make the pasta in house, but good shop bought fresh linguine will be fine for this recipe.

It would work as a fantastic starter for Christmas eve or New Year's eve.

Pork Jowl, or ‘Guanciale' as it is known in Italy is used in making an authentic Carbonara. It is cured in the same way as pancetta, with spices and alcohol which gives it a delicious aromatic quality. Pancetta will be a good substitute if you can't get hold of any. Though you wouldn't use cream in a traditional carbonara, this recipe uses a 'liaison sauce' which works really well with the truffle.

Serves 4 as a starter

400g fresh linguine

150g Guanciale, skin removed and diced small

300ml cream 

4 good quality egg yolks

70g parmesan, grated

Salt and pepper

30ml truffle oil

1 medium Périgord truffle (about 25-30g)

Sweat the diced guanciale in a dry pan over a low heat, rendering the fat and continuing until it is nice and crispy, then drain and reserve the fat. In a small bowl combine the egg yolks, parmesan, cream, and truffle oil. Using a hand blender, blitz the mixture, incorporating in the rendered fat. 

Adjust the mix with salt and pepper, remembering it will get a little saltier when the guanciale goes back in, so be careful not to over season at this stage.

Clean the truffle thoroughly with a damp brush or J-Cloth if it is muddy. 

Bring a large pan of salted water to the boil and blanch the linguine as per the cooking instructions (normally only a couple of minutes for fresh pasta).

In a separate sauté pan, warm the liaison and crispy guanciale over a very low heat, until it starts to thicken, being careful not to scramble.

Add the cooked pasta and loosen off with a little of the cooking water, it will thicken up because of the starch and parmesan. 

Portion into warm bowls and generously grate the black truffle over the top using a microplane. You could also use a truffle slicer if you have one.