Bacon Bomb-- with Homemade Guanciale

I've made this once before, but this was,  by far, the best result.  It's a mixture of three types of pork along with some of the things that compliment pork the most-- onions, apple and BBQ sauce.  Sounds good but a little heavy?  Not really.  It's cooked low and long and most of the fat renders off.  The onion and apple give some bright notes to what would, otherwise, be a heavy meal.  I'm not saying it's diet food, but it's not as bad as you'd expect from the name.

This dish is all about layers.  I made some cured guanciale a while back.  It is made just like bacon, but it comes from the hogs jowl.  It does taste different, slightly, from bacon though-- more mild.  I cubed and rendered the guanciale until it was really crisp.  It is important to get it very crisp  because it will be wrapped around the onion and apple mixture and will rehydrate.  If you don't render it properly to begin with, it will be rubbery.

 The guanciale has a nice pink color from the curing.  It smells great.

Here it is well rendered, before draining.  Let it cool before using.

 I saute the onions too, in some of the rendered guanciale fat.  Not for too long, just enough to get th raw taste out.  At the very end I added the apples and cook for just a minute (not shown).  I wanted to leave the apple as raw and crisp as possible so that it would hold its shape and not be mushy after the long cooking time.  Thyme and a little grated nutmeg go well for seasoning the oinions and apple.

Next, while all the rest is cooling, make a latice out of your favorite bacon.  A one pound pack works perfect.  Use half one way, half the other just like you would a pie.  It makes the end product look nice.

You notice I did this on top of plastic wrap.  It makes it easy to roll later.  Now pepper what will be the inside of the bacon.  I also added a little garlic powder.  You could also put a thin layer of BBQ sauce on at this point (I didn't, but it would be good and I probably will when I make it again).

Now take a one pound pack of regular pork sausage and press it over the entire bacon latice.  I would add a thin layer of BBQ sauce at this point too.

Spoon on the onion and apple mixture to cover all the sausage.  Add salt, pepper, and any other spices you like.

Here is where you sprinkle the well-rendered guanciale.  It makes for a flavor difference, but also a textural difference.  If you don't have guanciale, use rendered bacon.  You could also do variations with ham or other pork products.

Now just roll it up, using the plastic wrap to pull it tight.  After it is well-wrapped, I take both ends and spin it over and over and it tightens the wrap into a sausage like package.  I leave it to sit at this point while the stove comes to 275.

You can see that I cook the bomb on a wire rack over a casserole dish (seam side down).  This allows the fat to render off.  Put a half inch of water in the casserole so the fat doesn't burn on the bottom.  I also season the top of the bomb.  You can see there is plenty of pepper here.  Add what you like.  Cook for two hours at 275 then raise the temp. to 350.  While the stove comes to temp, put a thin layer of BBQ sauce on the outside to glaze.  Cook for an additional 30 minutes at 350.  You can add another layer of BBQ sauce after 15 minutes if you want.

Slice and serve with whatever vegitables you like.  Enjoy.