From the Apuan Alps marble quarries — back-fat cured for six months in marble basins with rosemary, garlic, and pepper. Sliced wafer-thin and laid over hot toast so the fat begins to melt. Three ingredients, transcendent.
Serves 4Prep 5 minCook 5 min
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Ingredients
- 100 g Lardo di Colonnata IGP, sliced paper-thin
- 8 thick slices of rustic country bread (sourdough or pane casereccio)
- 1 garlic clove, halved
- Freshly cracked black pepper
- A few rosemary needles (optional)
Method
- 1Toast the bread until deeply golden — char marks at the edges are good. Use a hot grill or a cast-iron pan, not a toaster.
- 2While still hot, rub each slice with the cut side of the garlic — the toast acts as a grater.
- 3Lay the lardo slices over the hot bread immediately. They should glaze and slacken, becoming translucent — never melted to a puddle, just softening.
- 4Crack a little black pepper over the top. Scatter a few rosemary needles if using.
- 5Eat at once. The temperature contrast — hot toast, cool-then-warming fat — is the entire dish.
Chef's tip
If your lardo is fridge-cold and stiff, let it come to room temperature before slicing. Cold lardo doesn't release its perfume.