Carbonara
7 CommentsYou'd think I'd be done with pork after HAM: AN OBSESSION WITH THE HINDQUARTER. But you'd be wrong. I'm hardly done with it. Because pork is always good. Always.
One of my favorite quick meals is pasta alla carbonara. Not the nasty cream sauce you get in most joints. Blech. The cream ruins everything. (And I promise never to say a word against you again, my overlord cream.)
Real pasta alla carbonara is utterly creamless. It's also usually made with guanciale, or smoked pig's jowl. We happen to have one left in the freezer from Wilbur, our own pig. But we've also been known to use 1) bacon, 2) turkey bacon, 3) Canadian bacon, or 4) soy bacon (horrors!).
I've even seen some recipes--authentic Italian ones at that--that call for pancetta. Frankly, I prefer the taste of a smoked meat. Maybe it's that bacon-and-eggs thing.
In the end, you need smoked meat, eggs, grated pecorino, and pasta. But sometimes, it's the best quick meal that can be had--even when you're dead tired from a photo shoot going on in your house.
So here's how the whole thing goes down to make a two-serving meal:
Start by boiling up 1/2 pound spaghetti in a big pot of water of high heat. The only real secret to making great pasta? Just make sure there's enough water at a boil so the noodles can dance. No salt, no oil. Forget about it. Just bring the water to a boil, drop the pasta in, and give it a few stirs.
Once it's tender, drain it in a colander in the sink but save back 2 cups of the pasta cooking water. (How do you know when the noodles are tender? Throw a piece against a wall? Nah. Just taste it, of course.)
Now put a large skillet over medium heat, let it get pretty warm, and add 6 ounces chopped smoked pork or pork-like product (jowl, bacon, you name it).
Fry until crisp, then add 1 tablespoon unsalted butter and 2 medium minced shallots. Keep stirring over the heat until the shallots soften, about 2 minutes.
Could you use an onion? Of course--but a small yellow one, not one of those that's almost as big as your head. You could also toss in some minced garlic, although I don't like the dish to get too complicated.
Once the shallots are soft and aromatic, drop the heat to low. (If you're working on an electric stove, shift the skillet to another burner just now turned to low.)
Add the pasta and about 1/2 cup of the cooking water, just to loosen the noodles up in the skillet. Toss them a few times so everything's gets mixed together (tongs work best).
Then quickly beat 2 large eggs in a small bowl and pour them into the center of skillet, stirring CONSTANTLY with your closed tongs. Add more of the pasta cooking water in 2-tablespoon increments as necessary to make a rich, custardy coating for the pasta. Stir, stir, stir quickly and efficiently.
I'll be the first to admit this takes a little practice--and I indeed left a few bits of scrambled eggs in my carbonara the first time I made it. It's no tragedy, and I've gotten better with practice. It's a lot of quick stirring to make sure the eggs turn into a sauce.
Finally, stir in about 2 ounces grated pecorino (or Parmigiano-Reggiano, or Asiago) and remove the skillet from the heat. Stir until the cheese melts (about 10 seconds) and then give the dish a few generous grinds with the pepper mill. Plate it up and serve it at once. Heaven, pure and simple.
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Reader Comments (7)
Mark, I think I'll make this for Larry as a surprise ... he'll love it!
Suzie: Make sure you let me know how it comes out. And work fast over very low heat once you put the eggs in the skillet!
Finally, someone else who is adamant that *real* spaghetti alla carbonara does NOT include cream!
I've never put shallots in mine, though. I might have to try that. And sometimes I put a little white wine in when the meat is almost done. (This is demanded so often in my house that I have to change it up a little once in a while.)
Hi, RL! Welcome. Yes, I'm pretty nutso about it. I LOVE cream. Sheesh. But it's just not right in Carbonara. I find it so depressing that most Italian-American restaurants interpret carbonara as essentially an al fredo sauce with bacon. Um, no. But you can tell that we're not hamstrung by tradition. Those shallots, after all. A sweet little garlicky bite. White wine sounds great. I assume you add it as we do the pasta-cooking liquid? Or before and let it reduce?
May i know when cooking pasta, why the water did not put salt on it? is it the bacon give the saltiness to the pasta?
Welcome, Chablis. Actually, salt changes the temperature of the pasta water, the temperature at which is boils. There's little need to salt it, other than to wait a little longer for it to boil. But if you like a saltier dish, by all means add some salt to the water. And yes, the guanciale definitely gives the salty taste to the pasta dish.
Thank you Sir for your reply. Appreciate it. =)