Cured pork pasta

Cured pork is simply pork that has been salted. I did a quick cure of some off-cuts when I made my prosciutto, because, well, I had to do something with them. It was a slapped together dish, with rustic, fat rolled pasta, and it was way better than I imagined it could be. I think good pork is a great start.

• serves

  4

• prep

  20 minutes

• cook

  15 minutes

• difficulty

  Easy

Ingredients

• 100 g pork trimmings
• a good sprinkling salt
• 3 eggs
• 300 g plain flour
• 2 tbsp butter
• 10–15 sage leaves
• hard cheese, such as grana style (parmesan) for grating, optional

Standing time 1 hour

Instructions

Toss the pork with the salt and leave it for about 1 hour or so. It will decide how much salt to take up, so don’t be mean with it.

Make the pasta by mixing the eggs with the flour until it forms a stiff dough. Roll out until evenly thin on a well-floured board and cut into strips or triangles. Take care that it is well dusted in flour so it doesn’t stick to anything.

When ready to eat, rinse the pork and dice it finely. Fry it in the butter with the sage leaves. Boil the pasta in 3 litres of well-salted water, just until cooked. It should only take a couple of minutes if it’s thin.

Toss the pasta in the buttery pork mixture and serve immediately, perhaps with some grated cheese over the top.

Cook's Notes

Oven temperatures are for conventional; if using fan-forced (convection), reduce the temperature by 20˚C. | We use Australian tablespoons and cups: 1 teaspoon equals 5 ml; 1 tablespoon equals 20 ml; 1 cup equals 250 ml. | All herbs are fresh (unless specified) and cups are lightly packed. | All vegetables are medium size and peeled, unless specified. | All eggs are 55-60 g, unless specified.