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Pasta Carbonara
is a delicious concoction based on olive oil,
eggs, freshly grated parmigiano reggiano, some
Italian pancella (or good quality bacon), fresh
thyme and perhaps a sprinkling of fresh peas or
asparagus tips. Among other pasta dishes from
Italy, this one stands alone.
You won’t find
the recipe in any of the older Italian cookbooks
— it didn’t exist until after World War II. Some
writers have suggested that Pasta Carbonara is a
direct result of American GIs in Rome who
immediately made friends with local families,
bringing them gifts of food in exchange for
something home-cooked. The things that a GI
could most easily pick up were eggs and bacon —
well, coffee and cigarettes as well, but that
was for after dinner.
Here we may have
the answer as to how such plain American
ingredients appear in a now-classic Italian
recipe.
The sauce is
sometimes made with salted pork jowl, commonly
used in Roman sauces. Because hog jowl is not
easy to come by here in the North, bacon or
Italian bacon (pancetta) can be used for its
mellow flavor. A good, quality slab bacon works
very well.
One of the best
things about this recipe is that it can be made
from ingredients that almost always are on hand
and, certainly, if you plan it that way.
With Parmesan
cheese and eggs in the refrigerator, bacon in
the freezer and some pasta in the cupboard, you
will have a quick, delicious and almost-gourmet
dinner always ready for unexpected guests.
Pasta Carbonara
1 Tbs.
olive oil
1/3 pound bacon cut in thin strips ¼-inch
thick
Four large eggs at room temperature
Two tsps. fresh thyme leaves, chopped
1/4 cup freshly grated parmigiano regiano
(plus more for grating)
Salt and freshly ground black pepper
1 pound linguini or fettucine
1 cup frozen peas or asparagus tips
(optional)
Start with eggs
that are at room temperature — put them in a
bowl of warm water for a few minutes.
In a small sauté
pan, heat the olive oil and cook the bacon until
cooked through but not crisp.
In a large metal
bowl, lightly beat the eggs that have been
warmed and add the thyme, grated cheese, salt
and pepper.
Cook the pasta
in plenty of boiling salted water according to
the directions on the package. If you are using
frozen peas or asparagus tips, add them to the
boiling water about a minute before the pasta is
done.
When the pasta
is al dente drain it, saving about a half cup of
water and immediately add the pasta and the peas
to the bowl with the egg mixture. The heat will
cook the eggs just enough to thicken them,
allowing the sauce to coat the pasta.
(The temperature
should be hot enough so that any salmonella
would be destroyed. This is why a metal bowl is
ideal, since it conducts the heat.)
Pour the bacon
and the bacon fat onto the pasta and toss well
until the sauce thickens and coats the pasta.
Add up to a half cup of the pasta water to the
bacon pan to deglaze it, and add some of this to
the bowl of pasta. Check the seasoning, adding
more salt and pepper if necessary, and grate
more cheese on top.
This recipe will
serve four.
It almost goes
without saying that Pasta Carbonara should be
served with a green salad, some crusty bread and
a glass of white wine.
Allene White lives in Brooklin. |
