Tagliolini con Asparagi e Guanciale

Tagliolini con asparagi e guanciale is a spring pasta with asparagus and cured pork cheek. It’s a popular recipe across across central Italian regions, including Lazio, Umbria, Marche and Calabria. Guanciale is a product in this region and it comes up in many local recipes in these areas. In the Spring, asparagus comes into season for a month or two and combing it with glacial and home made pasta is a fantastic paring.

This version is based on a typical Calabrian recipe. It is similar to the recipes followed in other regions, except that you add a good pinch of chilli.

Ingredients

Tagliolini is a very thin, flat, almost angel hair egg pasta and goes very well with the lightness of Spring asparagus. Though you could use any long pasta.

Guanciale is cured pork cheek. It is used across central and southern Italy – Lazio, Abruzzo, Umbria, Molise, Sardinia, Calabria – wherever there is a tradition of working the whole pig. The cheek has a higher fat-to-meat ratio than pancetta (cured pork belly), and that fat renders slowly when heated, leaving behind crisp strips of meat and a pool of flavoured cooking fat that becomes the base of the sauce. You could always substitute pancetta and I am sure bacon would work if there was no other choice. But use guanciale where you can.

Asparagi If you can find it, use wild asparagus, although normal green asparagus is fine. The asparagus should be green and fresh – thin spears work well here because they cook quickly and hold their shape when tossed through the pasta. But perhaps the real trick is puréeing the woody ends of the asparagus. This helps create the sauce and adds a lot of extra flavour. But it also makes use of all the asparagus that you normally throw away. The chicken stock is an extra little step to build the flavour but not essential.

How to make taglierini con asparagi e guanciale

Tagliolini con asparagi e guanciale is very quick and easy to make. The method is the same as most Italian pasta with cured pork. The guanciale goes into a cold pan – no oil – and the heat draws out the fat slowly. Once the fat has rendered and the meat has coloured. The asparagus then cooks in the rendered fat, picking up everything the guanciale released. The pasta finishes in the same pan, with a splash of cooking water to bind the sauce.

The one extra step in the Calabrian version: some chilli goes in with the asparagus. Not much. The heat should sit behind the asparagus flavour, not in front of it.

Do not rush the guanciale. Fat needs time. A hot pan gives you crisp outside and raw inside, which is not what you want. Medium heat, patience, and the fat will render properly.

Buon appetito! 🇮🇹

Print Pin

Tagliolini with asparagus and guanciale, adapted from Calabrian cooking. Thin egg pasta, cured pork cheek, green asparagus and peperoncino.

Servings 4

Equipment

• Large frying pan or sauté pan (28-30cm)
• Large pasta pot
• Slotted spoon

Ingredients

• 400 grams egg taglioni
• 1 bunch of asparagus (preferably wild asparagus)
• 1 clove garlic (sliced)
• 1 pinch of dried chilli flakes
• 100 grams guanciale (cut into small strips)
• Chicken stock (optional)
• Extra virgin olive oil
• Salt
• Black pepper

Instructions 

• Put a pan of hot salted water on to boil, ready for the pasta.
• To prepare the asparagus, break off the woody, fibrous ends of the asparagus, and puré them in a food processor with a little water. Cut off the asparagus spears and set aside. Then thinly slice the remaining tender stem into rounds.
• Sauté the guanciale in a cold pan until the guanciale starts to turn golden. Then add the sliced garlic, and the chilli flakes and sauce for 1-2 minutes.
• Remove some of the golden gaunciale to garnish later, then add the asparagus purée and a pinch of salt and sauté for a few minutes.
• Add the sliced asparagus to the pan along with a few tbsps of water or chicken stock of the purée is too thick. Cook over a medium heat until the asparagus slices soften (just a minute or two).
• Add the asparagus spears and cook a few minutes until almost cooked.
• Meanwhile cook the tagliolini in the salted water, drain when al dente, reserving a couple of ladlefuls of the pasta water. This should only take 1-2 minutes for fresh tagliolini.
• Toss with the asparagus and guanciale, adding a ladle of the cooking water.
• Season with salt and pepper, garnish each dish with the reserved guanciale and serve.