Place a large pot of water on the stove and bring to the boil.  Once it boils salt accordingly.

Trim off any rind on pancetta and cut into lardons.

Peel and chop the shallot very finely. Set aside

Grate the cheese and set aside.

Place a dry frying pan on medium heat. You shouldn’t require any extra fat but if the pancetta is very lean, add a drop of olive oil. Add the pancetta lardons, fry and toss until edges are crispy but still soft in the middle.

Add the chopped shallot and sweat, then deglaze with white wine. (be carful as it can flare up).  Add the cream and turn heat to very low.  Add the grated cheese and mix well.  You barely want a simmer, too much heat can coagulate your cheese.  You can even turn off heat and leave it sit there until all the cheese has melted into the cream.

Add your pasta to the salted boiling water and cook al dente.

While the pasta is cooking, add a generous amount of freshly cracked pepper plus the plucked fresh thyme leaves.  If you salted your water correctly, you shouldn’t need any salt in the sauce as the cheese and pancetta are already very salty.

Once pasta is cooked, drain and place into sauce on medium heat.  Cook for one minute as you mix the pasta into the sauce.  There should be sauce left in the bottom of the pan, if the pasta has absorbed it all, that’s normal, just add a little of the pasta cooking water to thin it out.  Mix well and serve with sprigs of thyme for garnish.  No need for extra cheese but freshly cracked pepper on top is very nice. Enjoy!