I've never made carbonara before which is amazing because I actually love it rather a lot. I'm not sure why it's not something I generally make, I think it's the egg element. I love, love, love eggs but there's something about the not cooking part in a carbonara that makes me feel a bit yack. I'm assured that the egg actually cooks from the heat of the pasta, but even so.
Anyway, I thought I'd try it and this was the result. The recipe I adapted was a Hairy Bikers recipe (from Mums Know Best) and I have to say it was tasty and filling but it did taste quite eggy and wasn't as creamy as the carbonaras I know and love, so whilst I enjoyed this dish I think I'll experiment further.
This recipe serves 4
This recipe serves 4
Spaghetti Carbonara
Ingredients
1 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
250g pancetta cubes
100g unsalted butter
150ml dry white wine
4 whole eggs
2 egg yolks
100g Parmesan cheese, grated, plus extra for serving
400g spaghetti
salt and freshly ground black pepper
Method
Heat the olive oil in a large frying pan and gently fry the pancetta until it starts to turn golden. Add half of the butter along with the wine and simmer for a couple of minutes.
In a bowl, beat the whole eggs and the two egg yolks together and add in the Parmesan cheese. Season with some freshly ground black pepper and a tiny bit of salt.
Cook the spaghetti as you would normally, then drain and add to the pancetta in the frying pan. Mix well to make sure the spaghetti is well coated. Stir in the eggy cheese mixture. The heat from the spaghetti will cook the egg.
Stir in the remaining butter and serve right away.
In a bowl, beat the whole eggs and the two egg yolks together and add in the Parmesan cheese. Season with some freshly ground black pepper and a tiny bit of salt.
Cook the spaghetti as you would normally, then drain and add to the pancetta in the frying pan. Mix well to make sure the spaghetti is well coated. Stir in the eggy cheese mixture. The heat from the spaghetti will cook the egg.
Stir in the remaining butter and serve right away.
All-in-all, a good tasty dinner which was served with piles of garlic bread and some salad. What? I like a side of carbs with my carbs!
If you want an alternative recipe try Nigella's in How to Cook. It only uses two egg yolks (for two people) so a lot less than the recipe you used. Plus I always follow her suggestion and switch the egg white for a couple of tablespoons of double cream.
ReplyDeleteDo you know what, I can't eat egg so I use a recipe which is very similar to this, but instead of the egg mixture uses a couple of hundred ml single cream stirred in off the heat (we use Elmlea), and adds 1 tbsp flour to the parmesan which then slowly gets mixed in over the heat. And it's yum. We also use lowly back bacon rather than pancetta (you can tell I've got gallstones can't you!) and LOADS of garlic and mushrooms. In fact we're having it tomorrow with courgettes from the veg box!
ReplyDeleteStill looks yum, will ahve to try this soon as I am sure the kids will like it
ReplyDeleteMy Italian husband had to practice this dish for years before perfecting the egg/temperature thing - worth persevering with! He uses 1 egg per person and doesn't put it back on the heat, just uses the heat from the pan. Enjoy!
ReplyDeleteJamie oliver's chorizo carbonara (15 minute meals) is worth trying...only uses 1 egg & is very tasty!
ReplyDelete