spaghetti carbonara
June 17, 2013 § 36 Comments
And yet, another pasta recipe. You see I have a thing about pasta. I would eat it everyday if I wasn’t thinking too hard about all the carbs I don’t need. After an extra long commute home the other day, I arrived, said my hello’s and headed to the kitchen. I didn’t have a dinner plan whatsoever. Looking through the refrigerator I found a little log of chavrie goat cheese, a little pancetta, a handful of parsley, a shallot and by this time a pasta sauce was formulating in my mind. I thought if I had Parmesan instead of goat cheese I could make Carbonara. Then I remembered I do have some Grana Padano! Realizing I have never made carbonara I took my copy of Marcella Hazen’s Essentials of Classic Italian Cooking off the shelf.
Now let just say when I was “with child” spaghetti carbonara was “my dish”. I craved it everyday and dined on it at least once a week for a good six months! And to imagine I have never made carbonara is quite nonsensical. I left it up to the chef at my favorite trattoria. I didn’t even want to try to prepare it because I knew I could never match the quality of La Trattoria’s carbonara. Well…Eureka! Success in the kitchen. Here it is, in my humble opinion, a most delicious carbonara. Of course in the spirit of improv I made a few very minor adjustments to Marcella’s recipe due to not having all of her listed ingredients. In place of the Grana Padana you could use a good quality Parmesan.
I n g r e d i e n t s
- 4 ounces of diced pancetta
- 1 shallot, finely diced
- 4 garlic cloves, smashed and peeled
- 3 tablespoons olive oil
- 2 large eggs
- 3/4 cup freshly grated Grana Padano cheese
- Black pepper
- 1/4 cup chopped parsley
- 3/4 pound spaghetti
M e t h o d
Place a large pot of water on the stove over high heat. Once your water is at a roaring boil add a tablespoon of coarse grain salt and drop your pasta in. Cook until al dente, spaghetti cooking time is approximately 9 minutes. Drain, reserving 1/4 cup of pasta water.
Meanwhile…
Put the garlic and olive oil in a large sauté pan over medium high heat. Sauté until the garlic is golden. Remove and discard garlic. Add the pancetta to the pan and cook until crispy, then add the shallot. Continue to cook until shallots are soft and turn off the heat.
Using a fork lightly beat two eggs in a medium size bowl. Add 1/2 cup grated Grana Padano, a grinding of black pepper and the chopped parsley. Once the spaghetti is cooked, slowly drizzle in reserved pasta water until smooth. Mix thoroughly, using something like these!
Briefly reheat the pancetta over medium high heat, turn off the pan and add spaghetti, toss to combine well. Add the egg mixture and continue to toss to combine and allow the egg to set without scrambling. Serve right away with freshly grated Grana Padano cheese.
Serves 4.
buon appetite.
COTTAGE GROVE HOUSE 
Everything looks good, including your fork, spoon, napkin and pasta forks :)
Thank you. Love those wooden “claws”. :)
Yum! I have a thing for pasta, too : )
I know. I will never deny a bowl of good pasta….ever! :)
super cute “tossers”
Thank you! I love them. :)
It goes without saying that your pasta looks umm, umm, delicious but I’m also following the trend of those admiring/digging your props a LOT! specially the pasta forks/combs
Thank you so much. Those “claws” are so useful.
You are not alone, I love carbonara but never make it myself. I love ordering it at the restaurant. I will have to change that, it’s one of indulgent favorites. Great recipe, thanks for posting. I also go to Hazan often for inspiration and just plain good Italian food.
I just love Hazan’s books. I have learned so much. Not only cooking recipes but how to buy good garlic, properly cut basil…etc. (you know)
Loving your pasta recipes! and you know, like yourself, spaghetti carbonara has always been one of my comfort foods – when I feel down, under-the-weather and have a sore throat, i turn to carbonara! So glad that I can now make it at home instead of only eating it at Trattorias!!
thanks for sharing the recipe dear! Have a great week!
xoxo
felicia
Thank you Felicia! Thank goodness I forget about carbonara now because 15 years ago I sure had my share of it! ;) I love it!
Oh, one can never have enough good pasta recipes! And carbonara? A super classic favorite. Honestly, you cannot ever go wrong with anything with pancetta in it =) Thank you so much for sharing this delectable recipe; the pic made me hungry! xo!
Thank you Christina. I agree about pancetta. I love it for it crispiness, smokiness and saltiness! ;)
I agree! I would definitely eat it every day. This recipe is one of my particular favorites!
Mine too! I was fighting my teen age son for the leftovers the next day! :)
Lovely homey pasta!
Btw,where dis you found that fancy wood fork??
Hi Dedy! They are available at most kitchen shops. Do you have access to kitchen gadget type shops? They are actually considered salad servers. This is my second pair. My dog chewed the last one up! :)
I love carbonara! Anything with pancetta gets a thumbs up in my book! Looks delish.
Thank you Anne! :)
Hard to go wrong with the classic pasta dishes – and yours looks particularly lovely. And for the record – this post did show up in my reader! Hurray! ;)
Oh good! I’m going to keep my eye out though! :)
Delicious. I always want pasta too and it is quick and easy :)
I never grow tired of carbonara! And always fun to try someone else’s twist on it.
Agree. Never enough pasta recipes! :)
It’s years since I’ve made carbonara as I can’t buy really fresh eggs. I do love it as pasta dishes go. As for Grana Padano, I’ve just replaced mine – at last – as I prefer it to Parmesan. Lots of it grated into my first ever home-made pesto tomorrow :)
Homemade pesto sound great! Grana Padano is usually so expensive. The market was featuring it last week and had very generous discount so I bought a rather large chunk. I just finished grating a good amount for the polenta for tonight’s dinner. (I made a pesto too!)
You are cut from the same cloth as my Zia and I. We, too, could eat pasta every day and never complain. Carbonara is a favorite, too. Your recipe sounds delicious!
Thank you so much! Coming from you this is as a massive compliment! :)
Last minute dishes are often the best ones, this looks great. Starting from now I’ll always have these “emergency ingredients” in my fridge & cupboard :-)
I do love the carbonara, such a simple dish with maximum taste. Looks wonderful.
Thanks. :)
you can never show us too many pasta dishes! I’ve just added pancetta to the grocery list.
Thank you. Nice to have dinner with you the other day and catch up. Just read about Twinkle. :( Hope she finds her way home. Keep me posted…
I have a weakness for pasta–this sounds so good!
Oh, my daughters and I have a thing about pasta too! We just can’t get enough… Beautiful pasta dish!