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Pancetta Breakfast Rolls
Nick's La Querica Pancetta breakfast rolls
Recipe by Nick Middleton
Ingredients:
4 large egg yolks, room temperature
1 large whole egg, room temperature
1/4 cup sugar
6 tablespoons melted Pancetta fat, room temperature (rendered out from crisping pancetta in a pan)
6 ounces buttermilk, room temperature
4 cups all-purpose flour, plus additional for dusting
1 package instant dry yeast, approximately 2 1/4 teaspoons
1 1/4 teaspoons kosher salt
8 oz La Quercia smoked Pancetta
12 ounces La Quercia Iowa White spread, softened
Thinly slice 8 ounces of the smoked Pancetta; cut 2 ounces into very small pieces and set aside, leaving the remaining 6
ounces sliced. Arrange the 6 ounces (approximately 8 slices) on baking sheet. Preheat oven to 325 degrees F. Crisp 6
ounces of smoked Pancetta approximately 10 minutes until lightly browned. Measure 6 tablespoons of the rendered fat to
use in the dough (if there is not enough fat, add melted butter to get a total of 6 tablespoons). Crumble the cooked
Pancetta and mix with the remaining 2 ounces of diced uncooked Pancetta, set aside.
For the dough: in the bowl of a stand mixer with a whisk, whisk the egg yolks, whole egg, sugar, Pancetta fat, and
buttermilk. Add 2 cups of the flour along with the yeast and salt; whisk by hand until moistened and combined. Place bowl
on mixer and attach the dough hook. Add 1 more cup of the flour and knead on low speed for 5 minutes. Add the final
cup of flour; the dough should feel soft and moist but not sticky. Knead on low speed 5 minutes more or until the dough
clears the sides of the bowl. Turn the dough out onto a lightly floured work surface; knead by hand about 30 seconds.
Lightly oil a large bowl. Transfer the dough to the bowl, lightly oil the top of the dough, cover and let double in volume, 2 to
2 1/2 hours.
Butter a 9 by 13-inch glass baking dish. Turn the dough out onto a lightly floured work surface. Gently shape the dough
into a rectangle with the long side nearest you. Roll into an 18 by 12-inch rectangle. Brush the dough with 7 ounces (1
tub) of Iowa White spread, leaving 1/2-inch border along the top edge. Sprinkle the smoked Pancetta mixture over the
dough, leaving a 3/4-inch border along the top edge; gently press the filling into the dough. Beginning with the long edge
nearest you, roll the dough into a tight cylinder. Firmly pinch the seam to seal and roll the cylinder seam side down. Very
gently squeeze the cylinder to create even thickness. Using a serrated knife, slice the cylinder into 1 1/2-inch rolls;
yielding 12 rolls. Arrange rolls in the baking dish; *rolls may be made ahead-- see note at bottom*
If baking immediately, place dish in an oven that is turned off. Fill a shallow pan 1/2 full of boiling water and set on the
rack below the rolls. Close the oven door and let rolls rise approximately 30 minutes. When rolls have risen, remove the
pan of water from the oven. Heat oven to 350 degrees F; bake rolls until golden brown, approximately 25 minutes. While
still hot, top each roll with 1 to 2 teaspoons of Iowa White Spread. Serve immediately.
*If making ahead, cover the rolls tightly with plastic wrap in the baking dish and store up to 16 hours. When ready to
bake, remove rolls from the refrigerator and place in oven with the boiling water for 45 minutes instead of 30. Bake as
directed
Tagliatelle with La Quercia Prosciutto and Poppy Seeds
This recipe comes from Saveur Magazine and is delicious, quick, and easy. It serves 4 people.
Use La Quercia Prosciutto or Speck - a package of the pre-sliced is about right.
The poppy seeds add a lot of visual appeal and a mild bit of crunch, so don't leave them out. The acidity was perfect, even with the wine, the lemon juice, and the buttermilk. I had to change things a bit, since I had no heavy cream - I just doubled the buttermilk and added a bit more butter. It was less creamy, but still very flavorful. I also added the scallions all at once, since I wanted to mitigate the raw onion effect. I did think that there was not quite enough sauce for the suggested quantity of pasta, so I increased the amount of prosciutto and green onion.
Ingredients
2 tablespoons unsalted butter
2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
2 large shallots, thinly sliced
Salt and pepper to taste
2 tablespoons poppy seeds
1/2 cup white wine
1/2 cup buttermilk
1/2 cup heavy cream (or use only buttermilk for a less rich dish)
16 ounces tagliatelle
2 to 4 ounces prosciutto, thinly sliced and cut in 1 inch pieces
1/2 cup or more finely grated Parmigiano Reggiano, plus more for garnish
1 bunch scallions (about 6), cut in 1/2 inch slices
Preparation
Melt butter in 12" skillet, add shallots, salt and pepper and cook over medium heat until soft, about 3 minutes. Add the poppy seeds and cooks until they are fragrant and shallots begin to caramelize a little. Add wine and reduce until almost gone. Then add buttermilk and cream (if using) and reduce slightly.
Cook pasta until al dente (the tagliatelle I used took only two minutes). Drain, reserving 1 cup of cooking water, and add to sauce in skillet. Add the prosciutto, grated parmigiano, the scallions, and the lemon juice. Toss to combine and add the reserved cooking water if necessary. Check seasoning and add salt and pepper if necessary. Serve with more cheese if you want to.
And here's a happy customer at the end. He really liked it!
La Quercia online orders now through Zingerman's!
Legendary Service + La Quercia Meat + $9.99 Shipping = Happy Holidays
Over the years, Zingerman's has been an amazing advocate of La Quercia's products and company values. Since bringing on our line in 2006, they have been amongst our staunchest supporters. They were one of our first Acorn Edition subscribers, the first retailer to carry our Borsellino salami, and are always willing to try a new item and give us honest feedback. We are honored to be part of their selection--they really search out the best-of-the-best across a number of key categories including cheese, olive oil, condiments, vinegar, and meats. They were early in bringing these authentic flavors to the USA and have shone their light on many small companies like ours.
When you put as much time and energy as we do into creating our products-- sourcing the best meat, carefully salting and trimming it, aging it from 3 months to 3 years-- it is always a little anxiety-producing to send it off into the world. When we send a box of meats to Zingerman’s, we can trust that they will be handled with respect and provide a wonderful experience for the eater. Equally important, we know that the enjoyment of that experience will be brightened by the wonderful customer service and education that guest received at the Zingerman’s deli counter. It is a huge load off our minds, and we can't thank them enough!
We are excited to extend this assurance of excellent service and quality to our online customers. Please let us know how this transition works for you. The folks at Zingerman's are always hungry for feedback.
June 2012: Prairie Blooms
We didn't want a vast sterile lawn around our building, so we're creating an oak savannah, the kind of landscape that Iowa had before all the draining and tiling and cutting and scraping. I've planted scores of bare root swamp white oaks (the kind that seem to do the best here), native viburnum, choke cherry, service berry, dog wood. They are growing in the unmowed area, which we seeded with prairie forbes and grasses. It's a rough rendition and a work in process, but every year we get more blooms and tall grasses flourishing where once there was raw scraped earth from construction. Now there is habitat for all kinds of critters and I get an interesting variety of birds at the feeder just outside my window. Later this summer we may get migrating monarch butterflies, as we did last year and the year before. Here are a few blooms from this morning.
This is bee balm (monarda) and yes, bees do like it!
Black-eyed susan and red clover
Purple aster
June 2012: Recipes and Recipe Ideas
I am always looking for easy and delicious ways to use our dry-cured meats. Arranging them on a white plate and serving them with bread or grissini is my basic go-to, but there are alternatives. I generally like to follow the fundamental rule: "Use great ingredients and don't screw them up." So - simplicity is good!
Here are some links to recent finds in a variety of magazines. I've been "pinning" to our Pinterest page where you'll find a growing collection of recipes using our prosciutto and other dry-cured meats. The pictures are great! Inspiring!! Check it out here.
You can use our prosciutto in any recipe that calls for Spanish or Italian ham. Our speck, with its gentle smokiness, is perfect for recipes with American or country style ham. Our pancetta and bacon are interchangeable (although different!) - use the bacon if you think a hint of smoke would be the right touch. Our meats are made from nonconfinement, humanely raised, antibiotic-free animals.
This recipe for Minted Pea and Prosciutto Crostini from Martha Stewart is really pretty (pink and green!) and easy - and a great way to get your veggies!
Here's a recipe for Pan-Seared Trout with Dry Cured Ham from Food and Wine Magazine. It would be perfect for La Quercia Prosciutto or Speck and you could even try it with our pancetta.
Here's a quick and easy pasta dish called Bow-tie Salad with Fennel, Prosciutto, and Parmesan, also from Food and Wine. I recommend eating it at warm room temperature.
Fruit and prosciutto go beautifully together, the perfect blending of savory and sweet. This recipe for Pear Wedges with Prosciutto and Mint from Bon Appetit Magazine would also be terrific with peaches and basil.
Finally (for today!), here's a recipe for Prosciutto Wrapped Greens from Fine Cooking Magazine. We've been making some variant of this ever since Alisa Barry of Bella Cucina made some using our prosciutto at our very first Fancy Food Show.
Enjoy!
DECLARE HAM INDEPENDENCE! June 28 - July 4, 2012
Check out www.hamindependence.com for full details.
