Spaghetti Carbonara
Servings: two portions
I was reading Ruth Reichl’s Garlic and Sapphires: The Secret Life of a Food Critic, which is an excellent book, and was drooling over her recipe of Spaghetti Carbonara. I made it a long time ago when I was in Jakarta using the recipe from Cordon Bleu’s Pasta. It calls for 8 eggs for 1 pound of pasta! No wonder it failed: I remember the smell of the uncooked eggs. Yuck!
Thanks to her enthusiastic and skillful writing, Reichl’s recipe prompted me to try again. This one is good. My husband, the pasta lover, couldn’t stop raving about it. It was such a comforting yet very easy dish for cold winter nights and it went well with dry white wine to cut the richness. This is already a staple in our house aside from pasta aglio olio.
Recipe is tweaked from the said book.
Ingredients:
Enough pasta for two (I use about 330 g)
2-3 cloves garlic, finely minced
80-100 g bacon, finely sliced
1/4 cup olive oil
2 eggs
4 tbsp grated parmesan
Salt and pepper to taste
Directions:
Cook the pasta according to the manufacturer’s instruction in a pot of salted water. Meanwhile, fry the bacon in olive oil until it renders its fat. Add the minced garlic and continue to simmer. Cook until the bacon and garlic are golden brown but not yet crispy.
Two minutes before the pasta is done, beat the eggs together loosely. Set aside.
Drain the pasta. Pour the eggs onto the hot pasta and mix well. The eggs will be cooked immediately from the heat of the pasta. Next, pour in the bacon, garlic, and olive oil mixture and toss. Plate the pasta, sprinkle with grated parmesan and season with salt and pepper. Serve immediately.
OMG I love Spaghetti Carbonara! This is one of life’s little pleasures. Glad you rediscovered it again.
And that photos is absolutely lovely.
V: Thanks! .
Comment by Hungry Gal — 6 January 2009 @ 1:28 am
Ahhh… long time since I made this one…..
BTW, do you boil your pasta with salt or butter?
V: It’s time to make it again
. Salt of course! Why boil it with butter?
BTW, I don’t even believe the ’splash of oil’ thing to prevent the pasta from sticking.
Comment by Benny — 6 January 2009 @ 7:14 am
Butter works better in my case. Have been using salt couple of time, but it still stick each other.
Anyway, I will try with more salt next time.
V: yeah? Will find out more from you
PS: I don’t think salt prevents sticking or do I read it wrongly?
Comment by Benny — 7 January 2009 @ 6:38 am
V! Pasta Carbonara is my favorite! Thanks for reminding me - its been a few months since I’ve had it. On the pasta sticking…I’m with you about no oil or butter (salt, for flavor) and I think the key is using a large pot with LOTS of water and be patient and wait till its really boiling to add the pasta. Stirring every once in a while too should ensure no sticking. When its done I drain and immediately add it my sauce.
V: RE: the pasta sticking, tee..hee… my friend and I have straightened the fact out
). I forgot to tel him lots of water so Ben, if you’re reading this, there you go. Lots of water 
.
Comment by gastroanthropologist — 7 January 2009 @ 7:10 pm