Tuesday, April 14, 2015

Spaghetti a la Carbonara

Are you ready for the indulgence of all indulgences in the pasta world? Yep, it's carbonara and good Lord it's good! I sort of put off making this dish only because it's worthy of clogging the ol' arteries but after several requests for it I decided to make this little treat. It really is super easy and this recipe came pretty dang close to the carbonara we had in Rome. The only thing I would change is to not add any extra salt since the pancetta has plenty.

Ingredients:
  • 1lb pancetta, diced into 1" cubes
  • sea salt and freshly ground pepper
  • 6 eggs, at room temperature
  • 1/2 cup heavy cream, at room temperature
  • 1 1/4 cup freshly grated parmesan 
  • 1lb dried pasta, I used spaghetti
  • 4 tbsp chopped fresh parsley leaves
 Directions:
  • Heat a large saute pan, until hot. Add pancetta and cook until golden brown and crispy, about 5 minutes. Season with black pepper and remove from pan from heat.
  • In a medium bowl, beat the eggs and cream together. Season with salt and pepper. Stir in parmesan, reserving 2 tbsp for garnish. Or just grate extra for garnish like I did. Set aside.
  • Heat a pot of water and cook pasta until al dente. Drain pasta in a colander. Do not rinse the pasta with water; you want to retain the natural starches so that the sauce will stick.
  • While the pasta is still hot, return it back to the pot. Add the pancetta and mix well. Add the egg and cream mixture and coat the pasta completely. It's important to work quickly while the pasta is still warm so that the cream mixture will cook, but not curdle. Add the remaining parmesan and parsley leaves to garnish. 
  • Ready to serve! 
I made this dish for a small dinner party so I didn't have time to take pictures so here's the picture from Giada