Say that as fast as you can 3 times!

We made a quick weekend trip to one of our favorite sandwich shops in the city, Cochon Butcher to pick up some of their famous Sweet Potato Habanero Hot Sauce for my in-laws.  I have never successfully ventured into "The Butcher" and purchased only the intended items.  I love their meat counter and I always have to indulge in a few of their awesome choices even if I have no planned purpose for them.  During this visit I left with the two bottles of hot sauce I went there to buy, some fresh boudin and two thick slabs of their amazing pancetta.  I had a ton of ideas for incorporating the pancetta into our dinner that night, but most of them involved another trip to the grocery.  I wanted to try to use existing ingredients and this spin on "breakfast for dinner" was the perfect option.  The pancetta was perfectly seasoned and made the best salty, crispy addition to the creamy, cheesy grits!

White Cheddar Pancetta Grits

Ingredients:

• ¼ pound pancetta, diced
• 5 packets of instant grits
• 3 cups of whole milk
• 2 tablespoons of butter
• ½ cup of shredded sharp white cheddar cheese
• 3/4 - 1 teaspoon salt
• ½  teaspoon cracked black pepper
• ¼ teaspoon cayenne pepper
• Fresh parsley
  

Directions:

1. Fry pancetta in a small skillet that has been coated with cooking spray. 



Once pancetta is crisp, remove from skillet using a slotted spoon and place on a paper towel lined plate to drain.
2.  Empty the contents of 5 packets of instant grits into a microwave safe skillet.  Add milk to the grits and stir to incorporate. 



Whisk in salt, pepper and cayenne.  

3.  Microwave grits on high for 3 minutes.  Remove from microwave and whisk in butter.  



Microwave for another 1 minutes.

4.  Remove grits from microwave and stir in cheese until melted.



5.  Spoon grits into bowl and top with 2 tablespoons of pancetta and fresh parsley.



Click Here for My Printable Recipe