Wednesday, May 23, 2012

Spaghetti alla Carbonara, La Ricetta... Spaghetti Carbonara, the recipe...

Sometimes all you want is a nice bowl of pasta....  I can't imagine not eating it. 
 Spaghetti alla Carbonara is a favorite and so easy to make...







                                                        Spaghetti alla Carbonara


                                                         1 small Onion, diced
                                                         6 slices of Pancetta, diced
                                                         Extra Virgin Olive Oil
                                                         2 Eggs
                                                         1/2 cup grated Romano cheese
                                                         chopped fresh Italian Parsley
                                                         White Wine
                                                         Spaghetti
                                                         Kosher Salt & Black Pepper

Heat  a large pot of salted water while preparing sauce.  Heat olive oil ( enough to lightly coat bottom of a saute pan).  Saute onion til quite golden.  Meanwhile, crack eggs into a medium bowl,  add romano, parsley , salt & pepper to taste,  stir well to combine,  set aside. Add pancetta to onions,  saute a minute or so til pancetta has browned a bit,  add wine to deglaze pan (carefully , unless you are comfortable with flames) cook a couple of minutes until wine has reduced,  not too much,  this is part of your sauce,  keep warm.   When water is boiling,  add pasta,  cook according to package directions,  removing pasta when it is JUST Al DENTE.  drain pasta ( but not too much,  you need there to be some pasta water mixing in with the eggs to make the sauce)   quickly add the pasta into the egg mixture stirring vigorously then add the  onion mixture and toss well. Serve immediately.  Serves 2
                     
COOKS NOTES...

 Using the very best ingredients is especially important when preparing simple dishes... I always use Good Extra Virgin Olive Oil,  Fresh Organic Eggs, Just Picked Fresh Italian Parsley,  Imported Romano ( preferably just grated from an Italian Deli)  Imported Pancetta,  also from the Italian Deli.  and of course,  Imported Pasta. Also important in this dish is getting nice color on the sauteed ingredients, that's what makes the flavor. You can  use any White Wine that you like,  it just shouldn't be a sweet wine.
Salting the pasta water very generously is key,  I use a big handful for a pot of water.  When seasoning this dish,  it's important to realize that the pancetta is  already salty,  so add salt to the onion mixture with this in mind  and also you must remember to salt the eggs keeping the saltiness of the cheese in mind. Lastly,  don't be concerned that the eggs are raw,  the heat from the pasta and the pancetta & onion mixture will cook them.  Be careful to work quickly allowing some pasta water to mix with the egg mixture. The eggs should not curdle (this would mean that it was not stirred quickly and vigorously enough)  but be transformed into a silky sauce.  

                 


7 comments:

  1. It looks amazing Mary, I wish I could eat at your house every night!!

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  2. Hi Mary, this is one of my favorites as well as my family.....I make this with penne pasta, but the bucatini pasta is delicious as well!
    My son makes this pasta dish regularly because it is quick and he has all the ingredients on hand, just like his Mama! Your dish looks scrumptious! N.xo

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  3. Good evening Mary ~~
    Your blog is really incredible here. I'd love to see you link up.
    This is a blog to see!!!
    I copied your pasta recipe for my son, as a toddler that is all he would eat. :) To this day he is now a teenager, he would eat pasta everyday. I know he will love this dish.
    Hugs Rosemary...xx

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  4. Mary, what a delight to find your blog. I have friends from Mola di Bari, a town called Giovinazzo. I enjoy their cooking style, especially taralle! I am Italian American but raised in the ways of my grandparents, from Naples and Sicily. This recipe makes my heart sing - it is authentic, no butter!!! I love it. So many pasta dishes and other Italian recipes in Blogland that have become Americanized, yuck! I will be sure to visit again. xo

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  5. Mary, Carbonara is one of my most favorite dishes. Looks great.

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  6. I made a mistake, one part of the family is from Giovinazzo, Bari, and the other half is Molise! I was confused, sorry! Yes, we look like what we are, 100%! xo

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  7. Wow, it's just about time for dinner here and this is looking so darn good! Thanks for sharing the recipe with us:-)
    Enjoy your Memorial Day weekend.

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