I decided to post this recipe after reading a tweet from my friend Jenty saying that she’d made this for supper over the weekend, and how well it had gone down in her household. That reminded me of a) how much I love carbonara, and b) that I haven’t had it for yonks (I go through phases with my cooking, and for some reason haven’t been in a pasta phase for a while; however, I suspect that may be about to change…)
Anyway, this recipe is by the undisputed (IMHO) queen of Italian cooking, Marcella Hazan, and is as easy and quick as it is divine! It’s also, in my mind, doubly perfect in that with a bit of forethought (i.e. keeping Parmesan in the fridge and bacon in the freezer) it’s the sort of thing that you can whip up on whim at any time of the day or night, cos most of the ingredients are the sorts of things you would probably have on hand anyway – assuming, of course, that you’re not a student bachelor, in which case your kitchen probably contains 2 minute noodles, beer and mould… And why shouldn’t it? I say enjoy it while you can 
As an interesting aside, Marcella Hazan has the following to say about the origins of this dish…
“An Italian food historian claims that during the last days of World War II, American soldiers in Rome who had made friends with local families would bring them eggs and bacon and ask them to turn them into a pasta sauce.” Who knows if it’s true, but it’s the sort of useless little nugget of information that appeals to me. Maybe it does to you too…
INGREDIENTS
| 1packet rindless back bacon, or even better (if you can ind it) pancetta |
| 4 garlic cloves |
| 3 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil |
| ΒΌ cup dry white |
| 2 large free range eggs |
| 1 cup freshly grated parmigiano-reggiano cheese |
| Black pepper, freshly ground |
| 2 tablespoons chopped parsley |
| 550g spaghetti |
METHOD
| 1. | Cut the bacon or pancetta into strips roughly 1 cm wide. |
| 2. | Lightly mash the garlic with a knife handle, enough to split it and loosen the skin, which you will discard. Put the garlic and the olive oil into a small saute pan and turn on the heat to medium high. Saute until the garlic becomes coloured a pale gold, and remove and discard it. |
| 3. | Put the strips of pancetta or bacon into the pan, and cook until they just begin to be crisp at the edges. Add the wine, let it bubble away for 1 or 2 minutes, then turn off the heat. |
| 4. | Break the 2 eggs into the serving bowl in which you’ll subsequently be tossing the pasta. Beat them lightly with a fork, then add the grated cheese, a liberal grinding of pepper, and the chopped parsley. Mix thoroughly. |
| 5. | Add cooked drained spaghetti to the bowl, and toss rapidly, coating the strands well. |
| 6. | Briefly reheat the pancetta or bacon over high heat, turn out the entire contents of the pan into the bowl, toss thoroughly again, and serve at once. |
Jeanette on October 4, 2009
Love making carbonara, and it’s so very easy!
btw, I made Nigella’s Caramel Croissant pudding this weekend – wow!
Janet on October 5, 2009
I love Carbonara too, but have never made it myself. Just the thought of the eggs puts me off – although I know you can’t taste it! Stupid huh!?
Kanga on October 5, 2009
Hey Janet – I’m so sorry to hear that, cos it really is SO simple to make and absolutely delicious
. If it makes any difference (and I know it probably doesn’t) the egg actually cooks on the pasta – it’s such a thin coating, that as soon as it comes into contact with the hot strands of spaghetti, it “cooks” against it…