No Local Pancetta - Yet

Saturday, December 01, 2007

I think every Italian cookbook published has a version of Carbonara, and at least have of them claim to be “authentic.” Since the recipe has never been codified, I am not sure how that is possible.  This is one I’ve changed over time, adopting various proportions of ingredients and different techniques while dropping others.  One of the most helpful recipes was Nigella Lawson’s.  To get a creaminess, she suggests combining the egg and cheese before adding them to the cooked pasta.  Rather than pancetta in this dish, I have used Meadow Run Farm’s Cottage Bacon.  It’s lower in fat and has a smoky flavor, so I won’t be substituting it for pancetta very often, but here it works.  I can compensate for the loss of fat with olive oil, and the smoky flavor somehow makes it more like the “breakfast” pasta (or hangover pasta, as Mario Batali claims) it is in Italy in my mind.  This is not when we eat Carbonara (mostly a lunch dish here), but I still like the idea.  I also use the bacon sparingly, as the smoky flavor is rather strong.  If you were to go back to using pancetta, you’d probably use quite a bit more. 

Spaghetti Carbonara

1 lb. Severino Spaghetti
1/3 cup Meadow Run Farm Cottage bacon, cut into strips
4 oz. Hendricks’ Dairy Parmesan, grated (or more or less to taste)
4 eggs (preferably Meadow Run Farm), scrambled
1/2 onion, finely chopped
1 cup flat-leaf parsley, roughly chopped
Salt and Pepper
Olive Oil

Put a large pot of water on to boil.  Once it boils, salt it aggressively and turn it down to a simmer. (Well-salted pasta water is essential to good pasta.  Also, I like to the sauce or “condiment,” as it is referred to in Italian, almost done before I put the pasta in to cook.) Add the bacon to a cold pan (a wide-bottomed, shallow pan big enough to hold the pasta) with some olive oil (enough to film the bottom of the pan).  Slowly heat the bacon to render the fat.  Once the bacon is crispy, remove it to a plate with a slotted spoon.  Lower the heat (if necessary) to medium-low and add the onions.  Allow them to really cook, to soften, grown golden and sweet.  This will take a good ten minutes if not more.  Once the onion is cooked, reduce the heat again and bring the pasta water back up to a hard boil; the, add the pasta.  While the pasta is cooking, stir together the egg and cheese until they are well incorporated.  Cook the pasta until it is slightly undercooked (this is a matter of taste, as I prefer a firmer pasta) to your judgment.  Remove the pasta from the water, reserving approximately one cup of the pasta water (which should be beautifully clouded and salty), and add the pasta to the pan with the cooked onions and toss to coat with the oil and onions.  Next, add the egg-and-cheese mixture and parsley, tossing the pasta and parsley to coat and slowly cook the eggs.  The eggs should cook and the cheese should melt into a nice sauce, with bits of onion and parsley suspended in it.  If you need additional liquid, add some of the reserved pasta water.  Serve with additional cheese and freshly cracked pepper.