(Photo credit: me)
Here is a yummy new recipe that I have recently added into our menu rotation. It's an authentic Italian dish so it makes for an unique
"date night-at-home" dinner.
Spaghetti Carbonara
1 lb package of high quality thicker cut bacon (Kroger's meat dept has some really nice cuts of bacon. Wright bacon is another excellent choice; Watch for sales-- I got my Kroger meat dept bacon for $5.99 a lb)
1 to 2 of the 5 oz packages Pecorino Romano cheese ( see note below***) (again, Krogers seems to be one of the main stores to carry specialty stuff like Italian cheeses and such) if you can find blocks of Pecorino Romano, you can also grate your own cheese. This is just all my store had at the time. If you absolutely can not find Pecorino Romano, you can substitute Parmigiana Romano but I highly recommend the Pecorino.
Note:****The recipe technically needs one container worth, but I bought two to make sure I had enough. I used entire container for the recipe itself and opened the second one for garnishing-- and now I have extra for next time-- but if you want to only purchase one, you can do that to save money. You just won't have any extra cheese to garnish your dish with.
3 eggs
1 package --thick spaghetti noodles
Freshly ground black pepper for seasoning
Directions:
Dice up your bacon into small pieces. Cook in a skillet until bacon reaches your desired level of doneness. Using a slotted spoon or spatula, scoop up the cooked bacon pieces and place on a plate lined with paper towels. Using a large spoon or ladle, scoop up the majority of bacon grease out of skillet, leaving about 2 Tbsp of bacon grease remaining. Remove from heat temporarily while you make your pasta.
Cook your noodles one minute less than the box directions. (My box said 12 minutes so I cooked my pasta for 11 minutes) DO NOT DRAIN pasta! Leave the water in the pot -- you will use some of it.
Okay, so about 1 minute before timer goes off for pasta, put skillet with bacon grease back on burner to reheat on medium high. Return the majority of the cooked bacon back into the pan. (Leave some for garnishing your plates at the end)
Quickly, in another bowl, crack 3 eggs and whisk with a fork. Fold in one of the 5oz containers of pecorino cheese -- this will make a creamy "sauce". If it's kinda thick, add in a tsp or more of the starchy pasta water to make it more creamy.
Okay so once your pasta timer goes off, and your bacon skillet is reheated, use tongs to transfer pasta from the pot to the bacon skillet. Using a measuring cup, add about 1/2 cup or so of the pasta water into the pasta in the bacon skillet. Stirring constantly, let cook for an additional minute to finish the cooking of the pasta.
Remove from heat and quickly stir in the pecorino/egg sauce. (This is important ! If you leave the pan on burner, you may have too much heat and end up with scrambled eggs!)
The residual heat from the skillet and hot pasta will cook the eggs gently (Don't worry -- you won't be eating raw eggs!) Stir constantly for one minute
to ensure thorough cooking of the eggs. You will start to see a creamy sauce appear. Feel free to add in small amounts of leftover pasta water to thin the sauce as needed. You want it to be like a light sauce, not a thick paste. Add a lot of freshly ground black pepper. The pepper just really knocks this dish over the edge.
(Photo credit: me)
Plate it up with your tongs with a twirl. Sprinkle on some additional pecorino or parmigiana cheese. Garnish with remaining bacon and another grind of fresh black pepper on top. (And fresh parsley if you have it !)
So yummy! And surprisingly easy to be "fancy" food!
Enjoy! 🥰
Here was the inspiration recipe:
Vincenzo used Guanciale (pig cheek meat)
which is hard to find in America so I substituted
high quality bacon instead. I also used 3 eggs
instead of 4
but watching his video will help you see how the dish is supposed to come together.