Considered Italy's version of bacon, pancetta is made from pork belly, peppered, rolled, tied and hung to cure. It's most often used as a cooking ingredient to add flavor, as in this Celery and Pancetta Salad that OTTO Pizzeria has served for years.

I like to cure meats in house and create antipasti and salads with ingredients that pair well with them. To me, some house-cured vegetables about the same size as the pieces of meat work well. When pairing ingredients together, make sure they should have a similar size, bite and mouth feel. (The same goes for pasta -- the vegetable should be the same size as the noodle.) Thus, the pancetta and celery in this recipe are both diced and slivered, no more than a quarter-inch thick.

Celery root, also referred to as celeriac or knob celery, is a variety cultivated for its edible shoots and roots. While it's not the farmers' market's most beautiful offering, this bulbous root vegetable is often underappreciated for its distinctive, parsley-like flavor. Raw celery root tends to dominate salads, so pair it with equally strong vegetables and fruits such as apples, beets or carrots if you're avoiding meat.

I chose to use celery with pancetta because it's something that everyone has in the back of their crisper drawer. Go look; I'm sure you have it on hand.

The late Marcella Hazan (one of my culinary heroes) and I always agreed that the best way to allow celery to cut loose is to throw it in a bath with salty, spicy cured pancetta.

When picking celery root from the shelves, choose one that is firm and relatively heavy for its size. As when buying potatoes, avoid those with many rootlets and soft spots. Once refrigerated, celery root can be kept for up to a week when sealed properly. Although I prefer it grated and tossed raw in salads, cooked celery root is an excellent addition to soups, stews and warm side dishes.

Celery and Pancetta Salad

Excerpted from "Molto Gusto" by Mario Batali (ecco, 2010)

Serves 6.

4 ounces pancetta, cut into 1/4-inch dice (have the pancetta sliced 1/4 inch thick when you buy it)

2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil

1 pound celery root (celeriac), trimmed and peeled

4 tender inner celery ribs, sliced paper-thin

1/4 cup slivered celery leaves (chiffonade)

6 tablespoons Red Wine Vinaigrette (see recipe below)

Maldon or other flaky sea salt and coarsely ground black pepper

Combine the pancetta and olive oil in a medium saute pan and cook over medium heat, stirring occasionally, until the pancetta has rendered its fat and is crisp, 5 to 7 minutes.

Meanwhile, using a box grater, coarsely grate the celery root into a large bowl. Add the sliced celery and celery leaves.

Add the vinaigrette to the salad, tossing gently. Season with salt and pepper.

Remove the pancetta from the rendered fat and discard the fat. Pour the pancetta over the salad, tossing gently, and serve immediately.

RED WINE VINAIGRETTE

Makes 1 cup.

1/4 cup red wine vinegar, preferably Chianti

1/4 cup sparkling water

1/2 cup extra virgin olive oil, preferably Ligurian

Whisk the vinegar, water and olive oil together in a small bowl. (The vinaigrette can be refrigerated for up to 5 days.)

(Mario Batali is the award-winning chef behind twenty-four restaurants including Eataly, DelPosto, and his flagship Greenwich Village enoteca, Babbo.)