It’s back to the freezer for another edition of Well-Stocked, and this time, I promise I won’t make you blend anything—just pre-slice for wholesome, salty meatiness any time you need it.
While most of us have frozen steaks, chops, burgers, and other cuts of meat for future use, it’s a life-saver to have a stash of sliced pancetta in the coldbox too. Not just smoky bacon (which I also keep on hand), but specifically pancetta—the ingredient that makes the magic happen for dishes as diverse as the world’s greatest spaghetti carbonara (seriously, I am going to get that trademarked), roasted brussels sprouts, and even seared scallops.
Corrado’s, my local Italian supermercato, stocks these vacuum-packed cylinders of good Jersey-made pancetta. At home, I slice the rolls into 1/2-inch rounds and then stack each slice between layers of waxed paper before wrapping the whole bundle in foil to freeze. Each slice is about 2 oz. by weight, so when I need pancetta for a recipe, it’s automatically portioned.
>> Why would you freeze pancetta instead of keeping it in the fridge? Read on. >>
