Pasta alla Carbonara

In America, you will most likely hear the term “chicken carbonara” being thrown around from sandwich subs to pizza. Often times, we would go to an eatery establishment and would think that it’s a seasoned Alfredo sauce with bacon pieces inside. To tell you the truth, it is NOT. According to Mario Batali, “A True carbonara has no cream.”

Carbonara is actually an Italian Pasta dish that dates back to the 20^th century, from the state of Lazio just right along the eastern coast of Italy. Real preparation of this dish comes in the form of using four main ingredients, eggs, smoked pork, black pepper, and grated cheese. The pork is cooked in fat. The hot pasta is combined with the mixture of raw eggs, cheese and the fat of the pan. While many think that carbonara is a cream sauce, the real cream comes directly from the eggs, which is the base of the sauce.  Typically, bacon and pancetta is used in America due to the product being the number one cured pork product on the market, but traditionally, Guanciale, which is the Jowl, is most common in Italy. Outside of Italy, peas, mushrooms and other vegetables are often added, but it’s traditionally forbidden in the dish. The key to making the carbonara cream sauce is cooking it at a low temperature so that your egg mixture doesn’t curdle like scrambled eggs.

It was a slow day at work and thought I would give it a go, so I did. Here’s my recipe to Pasta alla Carbonara.

Ingredients

Salt

2 tablespoons of olive oil

8 large eggs

8 ounces of chopped Pork Jowl, Pancetta, or Bacon.

1 pound of spaghetti, or linguine.

½ cup of grated Parmigiann-Reggiano cheese

½ cup of grated Pecorino cheese

Freshly ground black pepper.

Bring a large pot of salt water to a boil over medium heat.

While the water is boiling, add olive oil to a large skillet over medium. Add your diced pork and cook until the fat is rendered and begins to color with a SLIGHT crisp. Turn off the heat and place it over a non-heated burner. DO NOT DRAIN THE FAT

While the pork is cooking, boil your pasta accordingly and cook it for about 6-7 minutes. Apparently, you would want to cook it one minute less than what it says on the package.

While the pasta is cooking, crack your eggs into a large bowl. Add your cheeses, salt and pepper, and whisk until it is well blended. Season again with more black pepper.

With the pasta almost finishing up, place the pan of pork on the setting of medium heat. Let it warm just a tad bit. Remove the pasta from the water, and toss it into the pan of pork so that the fat is coated on the pasta. After it is placed in the pan, stir it using a pair of tongs in a circular motion. Add your egg mixture and cook for about 2 minutes, stirring constantly until it looks more like a cream sauce. The key to not messing this dish up is letting it curdle like scrambled eggs. My tip would be to stir it while your pan is on a lower heat setting.