This evening, I reminded myself that these days, I live alone, and, as I love to dine late sometimes, why not indulge myself, as nobody here is demanding an early dinner.
Anyway, dinner took the form of the Italian classic, Pasta Carbonara; I realised that I had all of the ingredients to hand, and thought, why ever not?
So, Pasta Carbonara:
The ingredients for this dish are quite simple, and there aren't all that many of them, but, as with any supposedly "simple" dish, this means that it stands or falls on the quality of the ingredients.
The ingredients are: Pasta (preferably one of the long strand types, such as spaghetti, or tagliatelle, but any good quality pasta will suffice); eggs (actually, egg yolks - and here, the quality of the eggs do matter; preferably free range, as they taste better); guanciale (pig cheek); at a push, pancetta - or, any other bacon - will do fine, but guanciale is better; and Pecorino Romano (rather than Parmigiano Reggiano); some recipes call for a 50/50 mix of both, if you only have Parmigiano Reggiano that is fine, but the original recipe calls for Pecorino Romano.
And black pepper. This is a dish that calls for a generous hand with freshly ground black pepper.
Slice and dice the guanciale (remove the rind, and the peppered coating - just slice them off and discard them), then add the diced guanciale to a large saute pan, on a low heat. A very generous, a seriously large chunk of guanciale is what I have in mind; be generous, for this lovely bacon will add a wonderful flavour to your finished pasta dish.
Tonight, I added a little olive oil to the pan - most Italians do not even do this, as the fat of the guanciale will be rendered - to start them off; they will become translucent, and eventually, a little crisp.
Heat the pasta water; for once, you will not need to salt it, as the Pecorino (or Parmesan) cheese will be quite sufficiently salty, and cook the pasta - paying attention to how long it will take to cook - according to the instructions on the packet.
Separate the egg yolks from the egg whites (roughly one egg yolk per 100g of pasta, although you can be more generous), and add them to a bowl; tonight, I used two egg yolks (organic, free range) and one whole egg; whisk them.
Do not buy cheese already grated, it will not be fresh and it will taste of nothing; instead, buy a hunk, and grate it yourself.
When I had the cheese grated, most of it (in two batches) was added to the already whisked eggs, and stirred and whisked. Add some freshly ground black pepper.
If this mix is too claggy, too solid, one can dilute it a little with a few tablespoons of the pasta cooking water (which I did this evening); also, - although the purists will howl - should you feel the need for cream, this is when and where you can add it; as with the pasta cooking water, a few tablespoons/dessertspoons should suffice. You want the egg/cheese mix to be neither runny nor solid.
Turn off the heat for both the pasta and the guanciale in its saute pan. This is because you do not want the egg mixture to become scrambled eggs once it has been added to the pan.
Remove (and reserve) around half a mug of pasta cooking water; drain the pasta, and add it to the pan. Stir, coat it with the guanciale (and, above all, that lovely bacon fat that has rendered into the cooking liquid); add a few tablespoons of the pasta cooking liquid to it and stir and mix and marry.
Now, you pour in - slowly - the egg and cheese mix, on top of the pasta; stir around, blend, mix and meld and marry the lot, with tongs, and/or a wooden spoon; and don't forget to add plenty of freshly ground black pepper while you are stirring.
The pasta should be creamy, and should taste delicious (what is there not to like? For here, we have a dish that combines bacon, egg, cheese and pasta).
Serve, and savour.
Filed under "you go first."
