penne carbonara
I’m baaaack! My little blog holiday is over, the shopping is done, the fridge is stocked, the oven is cleaned and ready to go so lots of cooking in the italian foodie kitchen again. I have to admit the main benefit I get from this blog is that it makes me cook, it makes me try something new every week, if I didn’t blog I would probably stick to the old reliables and I definitley wouldn’t have improved my cooking skills to the extent I have without my little blog so for that I am very grateful. Bru is even more grateful as his Italian belly is always full and he always has complete control over the T.V as I’m always on the computer:)
I’ve done carbonara before but I’ve decided to revamp it with a few step by step photos as a lot of people have told me they always struggle with the addition of the egg, it tends to scramble on them so hopefully this post might help. Carbonara is one of my favourite pastas but boy is it the most abused pasta dish. It consists of the basic ingredients of guanciale or pancetta which is more commonly available here, parmesan or pecorino, egg yolks and the key ingredient “black pepper” which is where the name comes from “carbon”. There is no chicken, mushrooms, peppers, peas, that is it, I never understand why in Ireland we feel the need to change everything. The things we get asked for in La Cucina just amazes me sometimes, I wonder do people do the same when they go to the Chinese or Indian.
Traditionally cream is not used but I know it is definitely preferred here so we do use cream in the shop, we have a few customers who have it the Italian way but the majority have it with cream and chicken and mushrooms and ……..!
what you need for 2:
2 egg yolks
350g pasta – spaghetti, penne, linguine
grated parmesan cheese – about 80/100g
150g – 200g pancetta
salt and black pepper
olive oil
splash of white wine
double cream(optional) – DON’T DO IT!!!
what to do:
bring a pot of water to the boil, add salt and your pasta and cook until al dente. Make sure you stir your pasta to prevent it sticking:
heat a little oil in a frying pan and add your bacon:
when your bacon is cooked add a splash of white wine and some of the pasta water, if you really want to add cream add it here and cook for a few minutes until thickened:
drain your cooked pasta and keep some of the water, take your pan off the heat and add your pasta and add your black pepper:
add your parmesan and egg yolks:
ok so this is the important part, you don’t need to put the pan back on the cooker, the heat of the pasta is sufficient, just stir in the eggs with a fork or spatula as fast as you can until the egg coats the pasta, if you find it too dry just add a little more of the pasta water:
serve with lots of parmesan on top:
buon appetito!
I will make this……..I really really will……mainly because I want to and secondly to mark your return….
promises, promises:)
Fáilte ar ais Lor, you were missed, looking forward to trying this over the weekend.Can you reccomend the best place to buy pancetta (Limerick area).
mmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm the all time nicest pasta dish, nothing beats this for me!!! YUM!!!!
Looks delicious. Thanks for the step by step.
it’s scheduled for sunday night!
italianfoodlover – the one I used in this recipe was the Rovagnati range in Superquinn. I know Lidl and Aldi have pancetta cubes too but I haven’t tried them. Dunnes have it too! Let me know how you get on:)
Rach – I’m with you on that one:)
food hunter – my pleasure:)
manuel – I want photos:)
I couldn’t agree more about the cream Lor, I absolutely love it this way and much nicer on the waist line too
I will NEVER EVER order this dish from a restaurant as aside from La Cucina and La Piccola I have never had a good version and so gave up a long time ago. It is so often served full of cream but really bland. Give me no cream but full of taste any day! Carbonara heaven here I come.
K xx
I love this dish and I see you’re using my favourite brand of dried pasta too
Perfect!
Highly recommend adding some grated nutmeg at same time as black pepper – this is one of the favourite meals in our house for some time and nutmeg seems to work really well with Parmesan (add both to our mashed potatoes as well). And we never add cream to carbonara, but do add some butter as we add pasta to the pan (although the pasta water is probably a healthier option than the butter
) – much better without!
Karen – haven’t had it with nutmeg, would imagine it’s a good addition though! go with the pasta water and you’ll never go back:)
KG – good minds think alike:)
I just clicked over from Donal – I never knew “we” had wrecked carbonara! I rarely order or make it because of the cream so looking forward to making this!
Beautiful site – I even like the scrambled eggs and beans! I am one to throw all kinds of things in a scramble – breakfast, lunch or dinner.
Hi Ann, welcome:) Glad you like the site, let me know how you get on if you make it!
I made this the other night with Senatore Cappelli spaghetti, organic eggs (whole so maybe I’m doing something wrong as there’s always too much runny egg), fresh garlic, pancetta cut at the meat counter, and freshly ground black pepper. All from Fallon and Byrne.
I totally agree re the black pepper. I’ve made this dish lots of times and I really find using the charcuterie counter pancetta speeds it up!
I also add a drissle of good quality extra virgin olive oil and an important ingredient is a glass of Italian red – to be drunk separately.
Thanks for this blog entry!
Hi Enda – the red wine is always very important:)I haven’t used that brand of spaghetti, good?? I would just use the yolk if you find it’s too runny. Wish we had a fallon & byrne down here, it’s so great for sourcing different ingredients! I heard they were in trouble, any truth to that, I hope not.
Yes, the pasta is good. Bit more expensive than the other brands.
I’m not sure about Fallon and Byrne. As with everywhere they’re doing less business but I hope it’s not a critical amount.
I’d be totally lost if they shut.
[...] tend to stick to the same pasta recipes in the italian foodie house, penne carbonara, spaghetti with tomato sauce, alio olio pepperoncino so I decided last week it was time for a [...]
Wow, just divine, definitely going on the permanent rotation!
Thanks a million!
(Though I don’t know how you grate 80g of parmesan -I only did 60 or so and my hand nearly fell off…)
Hi Lors, Thanks for the tip on taking the pan off the heat to add the egg, cheese and water, was doing this on the heat and hence the scrambled egg effect!! Clau would kill me, have to say the flavour was always there but couldn’t get rid of the “fried Rice” look. Enjoying all your hard work, keep it up and hope to see you soon, Debbie
Debbie – great to hear, say notin to you know who;)
SOOO good to see you don’t use cream or onions and manage to get the right creaminess nonetheless. Your penne do look yummy. Just a note: here in Rome, most people would be dismayed to hear you use parmigiano in a carbonara. I’m from the North of Italy and when I first moved here I hadn’t a clue and used parmigiano too, but everyone soon set me straight: only pecorino romano, which however might be more difficult to come by outside of Italy. It is also the main ingredient in gricia and cacio & pepe, which I’m sure you’ve heard of.
Paula I KNOW, we had a Roman chef for a while, just when you think you know what you’re doing:) LOVE cacio e pepe, have a block of pecorino in my fridge, I’m actually making it tomorrow night
I finally made this last night for dinner – NO cream!!! – loved it, kind of an adult mac n cheese
! And then, AND THEN – I used the leftovers for a frittata this morning ala this recipe:
http://glutenfreegoddess.blogspot.com/2006/10/autumn-pasta-frittata.html
And re the last comment, I used pecorino romano, not because I knew that it was traditional, but I prefer it over parmesan.
Oh, very non-traditional and not Italian at all, but I eat mostly gluten-free so used Tinkyada brown rice “pasta” and I used their “spaghetti-style”, not penne.
Hey Ann, great to hear you liked it. I love it this way, I must try it with pecorino next time…