Last Night at Chez Bart: Spaghetti alla Carbonara

Many of my regular followers know that I love authentic Italian food. This is partly due to my culinary odyssey in Tuscany last September/October. It's also due to the fact that I loathe 95% of what restaurants call Italian food. For some pathetic reason, Italian has become synonymous with alfredo at practically all but the most authentic restaurants. And its not even good alfredo, rather a cream-based soup thickened by starch that tastes, quite frankly, like shit. The net result is that whenever I crave Italian food, I usually just make it at home. 

Another Italian culinary casualty that I often see in American restaurants is the classic dish Pasta alla Carbonara. While Italian tradition dictates that egg and cheese are the only ingredients for the sauce, denizens the world over have sadly added a lot of cream to the recipe - thereby ruining it's delicate balance of flavors and textures. Chicken and vegetables are also commonly added, further deviating form the original Italian design. I think this is primarily done because in Italy, pasta is an appetizer, while in other parts of the world it is seen as a main course (and thus chefs feel they need to make it more hearty).

So you all can see when I found this little gem in an issue of La Cucina Italiana, I was excited to try it out! The recipe is compliments of Paolo Parisi, who is a legendary farmer in Tuscany (his farm is located just south of Pisa). He was one of the first farmers to raise and breed from near-extinction the Cinta Senese pig, and his eggs are highly prized by top restaurants throughout Italy (the free range chickens are fed a combination of whatever they can forage, and a grain/goat's milk mixture!). 

Please note that the recipe does not offer specific quantities of ingredients. While I tried my best to determine the correct amounts, more refining still needs to be done.

Store Notes: The recipe calls for the following:

• Guanciale; in this case, I used Pancetta because I have no idea whether my butcher can even get guanciale!
• Fresh Eggs, and I mean fresh! No longer than 3 days from when purchased.
• Pecorino Romano cheese
• Parmigiano-reggiano cheese
• Fresh Marjoram
• Garlic
• Lemon for zesting
• Pasta, either spaghetti or linguine
• Olive oil

Prep Notes: Prep is incredibly important for this dish, because the pasta has to be perfectly cooked at the time it is added to the sauce. If the sauce is not prepared ahead of time, the result will be overcooked pasta!

In a large bowl, grate equal parts of Pecorino Romano and Parmigiano-reggiano (I did 1/3 cup each; grate more so you can tinker with the amount later if necessary). Next mince 3 cloves of garlic and 2 tablespoons of marjoram. Using a microplane, zest one lemon. Cube up the pancetta into small cubes, and set aside for sautéing.

In a large pot, bring heavily salted water to a boil, and in a sauté pan, heat up enough olive oil to coat the pan.

Cooking Notes: Once the water is boiling, place the pasta in the pot, and the pancetta into the sauté pan. The goal is to brown the edges of the pancetta, so stir occasionally. Next, in a small bowl, crack open 4 eggs and discard the shells. Give the eggs a quick whisk so that the yokes are broken up. 

After 7 minutes, the pasta should be close to done. Test it, and if it is al dente, remove from the stove. Save 1 cup of the pasta liquid, and then drain the rest through a colander. Working fast, shake the colander to remove any excess water, and then pour the hot pasta into the large bowl with the cheese/marjoram/garlic/etc. I emphasize hot because it really has to be hot. One cannot waste time from  when the pasta is removed to when it is poured into the bowl with the other ingredients. The reason for this is because next you are going to pour the eggs into the pasta, and the pasta's heat is going to cook the eggs!

So pour the eggs, the pancetta (including the cooking oil), and half the kept pasta water into the bowl. Toss the pasta so that it is well mixed. At this point, check the consistency of the sauce, and add more pasta water or cheese until the desired consistency has been achieved. Also, more marjoram, garlic, or lemon zest can be added to taste. To serve, plate the pasta, drizzle with olive oil and crack some fresh pepper over top. Buon appetito!

  

Tasting Notes: This dish is a veritable gut bomb, and thus perfectly suitable as an appetizer for a more protein-centric main course, because quite frankly you just wouldn't want to eat a huge bowl of this stuff. The eggs and cheese give it incredible richness, yet in a subtle manner compared with the cream/starch-laden globalized alfredo and carbonara sauces.

The pancetta compliments the cheese/egg by providing salty notes, while the marjoram and garlic provide further complexity with their zesty herb notes. The lemon zest rounds it out with sweet, citrus notes. A simple dish with complex flavors. Delish!

Libation Notes: While this dish is rich and complex, it's flavors are not overly strong to the palette. Thus, I would not recommend a bold wine with lots of fruit - you would just overpower the pasta and lose its incredible complexity. Ergo, I would recommend a nice, dry white Italian wine. A pinot grigio, or sauvignon blanc, would go quite well with this dish.

Overall: This is a gem of a dish, with a wide range of flavors, yet an overall simplistic preparation. I could easily see myself whipping this dish up as a starter, while my short ribs are braising. I will definitely make this one again, and continue to tinker with the quantities of ingredients, so expect future updates. Ciao!