Helen RandellClassic Carbonara
February 20th 2012 09:48
We have eggs.
I’m just putting it out there – eggs are abundant at the moment. So, to make use of a few of them, I decided to whip up a batch of creamy carbonara. The motivation for this came from several fronts – 1. The chickens (obviously) 2. Watching Nigella again 3. Dinner at a friend’s house when my friend's husband lamented that he doesn’t have a good recipe for it and that he would like to know how to make it.
Buying carbonara sauce from the supermarket is nothing like the carbonara that you can make yourself at home. For one thing, your at home sauce is going to have far less cream, fat and salt than what you would buy off the shelf and secondly it is far, far cheaper – and of course it tastes better too.
The creamy carbonara sauce is in fact very little to do with cream. The texture comes from taking lightly beaten eggs and a good handful of grated parmesan and mixing it through the hot spaghetti so that the warmth of the pasta actually cooks the egg and melts the cheese. Traditionally a little bit of bacon (or chopped pieces of spec, or pancetta, or even chorizo) is fried up first to go in with the pasta and provide some bite-y texture to the dish.
This recipe is based upon one from Nigella but I have altered things a little.
- serves 4
200g bacon, cut into small pieces
60ml verjuice (or white wine, or vermouth)
4 eggs
50g grated parmesan
60ml cream
1 packet spaghetti
Cook the pasta according to packet instructions. Meanwhile, fry the bacon in a little oil until crispy. Pour over the verjuice and cook until it reduces a little and becomes syrupy.
In a bowl, beat together the eggs, parmesan and cream
Before draining the pasta, lower in a cup and remove approximately half a cup of of the pasta water.
Add the drained pasta to the pan with the bacon and toss well. Add a little of the reserved pasta water to lubricate if necessary. Take the pan off the heat again and add the eggs and cheese mixture, swiftly tossing everything to mix.
Serve and eat
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Comment by Chris Champion
Vyoos
Zoomies
Bloggercises
The Blog of Lists
Newly Old
Money Whither
My only gripe - and it's a big one - is that I've just read this at work and you've made me extremely hungry
Comment by Helen Randell
Rough Cooking