Like potato salad, spaghetti alla carbonara is one of those dishes that just doesn’t seem right made any way other than they way YOU make it, or the way your family makes it, even when you can admit it tastes good no matter HOW it is prepared. Start people discussing their carbonara and suddenly you are involved in a heated debate about the proper ingredients – cream or no cream, splash of wine or splash of pasta water, whole eggs or just yolks, etc.
The truth is that there is probably no way to argue that one is more authentic or true than the other – people in different regions of Italy even make it different, as I learned discussing with my friend Francesca. Her father, from the fatherland itself, makes it with cream; while I learned the no cream method from my Italian host mother. Neither one is right, but the way we prefer it is shaped by how we learned it.
I love making carbonara. It is so easy, so filling, so pure in ingredient. It is not to be eaten lightly, or often, as it is very very fattening. But as an occasional warming comfort food it cannot be beat, and I also assure you that it is the key to many menfolks’ hearts; they will pledge undying affection for you should you serve them this rather wonderful dish.
Since the vegan month I haven’t craved it at all, but Davey mentioned the idea of carbonara with a sort of glazed happiness in his eyes a couple days ago and it did sound awfully good. I decided it was probably a good idea to get rid of the bacon we had in the freezer anyway, since we aren’t really eating it much these days and it was taking up room. So we bought some eggs and cheese and I retired to the kitchen to make it. Alert – this recipe is the opposite of vegan.
The way I make it is as so: first, slice up your bacon in little slivers. Pancetta is best, of course, but we had bacon and it is delicious as well. Throw a bit of olive oil in a pan with your bacon slivers, and turn on low medium heat and let it start cooking up. In the meantime, put enough spaghetti for 2-3 people (Davey eats slightly more than a single person’s portion) in boiling water and let it do its thing. While the spaghetti is boiling and the bacon is sizzling (you want all the fat burned off and the meaty pieces nice and cooked), crack two whole eggs and two egg yolks into a bowl. Add salt and pepper and a healthy handfull or pecorino or parmigiano into the eggs, and mix it all up with a fork. Stand around and wait for your spag to cook, checking your bacon to make sure it does not burn.
When the spag is cooked, strain it and shake a bit, but no worries about getting all the water out or anything. Pour it into the bowl, on top of the egg mixture. Let it just sit there on top. Take your time walking over to the stove, stir the bacon a little, and turn off the burner. Bring the bacon pan over to the bowl and scrape in your bacon pieces and probably about 2 tablespoons of the hot fat. I let it sit another minute or so, allowing the hot fat and pasta to cook the top part of the eggs, then I stir it all up really well so the bottom part of the eggs gets coated all over the spaghetti and warmed through.
Serve to hungry fiance. Watch his face melt with joy. Be really happy that some shepherd in Italy somewhere sometime came up with this magical combination.
Sometimes carbonara just makes me feel really satisfied and thankful for the simple things in life, no matter how it is prepared.
