The perfect sauce to have in your back pocket: radicchio and guanciale cream sauce. Perfect with gnocchi or spooned over a grilled rib-eye steak!

Recipe by Chef Erin Eastland
Photos by Amy Sheridan

Sometimes radicchio, the bitter red chicory that is insanely popular in Italy, gets ignored here in the states, forced to be paired with pears in a radicchio salad or grated into coleslaw. But radicchio is so much more! Its bitter taste adds great dimension to this Radicchio and Guanciale Cream Sauce Recipe. We adore it when paired with our Divine Pasta Company Fresh Potato Gnocchi, and it’s an incredibly versatile sauce to have in your back pocket, whipping up in less than 30 minutes. Perfect as-is, this sauce also lends itself to creativity; try adding a little crumbled gorgonzola or even whisk in a little pear jam for sweetness. Use leftover sauce to top a pizza or spoon over grilled rib-eye steaks. And while your at it, buy some extra radicchio and try your hand at the classic Italian recipe Radicchio Risotto or upgrade that boring slaw recipe and try our Asian Pear, Radicchio and Jicima with Pine nuts and Greek Yogurt Dressing.

Directions

1. Over medium heat, preheat a high-sided cast iron skillet.
2. Add the diced guanciale or bacon and sauté until translucent.
3. Add the garlic and shallot and cook over medium heat until soft but not brown.
4. Add the sliced radicchio and saute until wilted and soft.
5. Add the cream and over medium-low heat reduce by half, about 20 minutes.
6. Add the parmesan and salt to taste.

Toss with hot pasta or gnocchi and garnish with chopped garlic chives or parsley. Wonderful paired with grilled steak.

Chef’s Tip: Create a variation of this dish by adding crumbled blue cheese like Gorgonzola.

Happy cooking,
Erin