Serves 4 – 6
FUSILLI, GUANCIALE, CARROTS, VIN SANTO, CREAM

My original idea was to make a carrot salad with guanciale. Then I thought about pasta – just because pasta is always the first thing I want to eat. This recipe is kind of a spin off of carbonara because of the crispy guanciale and creamy sauce.

Here’s what Frank Bruni had to say about this pasta in his New York Times review of our New York Sfoglia; “A dish of pasta this fantastic, its sauce of cream and vin santo applied with restraint and leavened cunningly by shredded carrot, convinces a person that what ever path led him to it should be embraced more often.”

1 tablespoon grape seed oil
1/2 pound diced guanciale (see resources)
3 medium-large carrots, peeled and finely shredded, yield approximately 2 cups
1/2 cup vin santo or Malvasia
1 pound good quality fusilli
1 cup heavy cream
1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
Grated Parmesan cheese for serving

1. Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil. Add the grape seed oil and guanciale to a 10-inch skillet over medium-high heat. Cook until the guanciale has rendered it fat,is deep gold and crispy, 6 – 8 minutes. Remove from the heat. Pour off all but 1/4 cup of the fat.

2. Return the skillet to medium-high heat. Add the carrots and cook until they have wilted, 2 – 3 minutes. Add the vin santo and reduce to 1/4 cup.

3. Add the fusilli to the boiling water and cook according to the package directions.

4. Add the heavy cream to the skillet and reduce by half, about 10-12 minutes.

5. Add 1/2 cup pasta water to the sauce. Use a wire mesh skimmer to remove the pasta 2 minutes before cooking is complete and place it directly into the skillet. Toss to thoroughly coat the pasta and cook for the remaining 2 minutes.

Serve immediately with grated Parmesan cheese.