Carbonara is the great Italian pasta. It is prepared from ordinary products - eggs, bacon, cheese and, in fact, the spaghetti itself. Only for many cooks and even chefs, the sauce treacherously settles to the bottom of the plate. I'll show you how to properly combine sauce with pasta. With this carbonara recipe, you will always succeed!
Gourmets often argue which of the carbonara recipes is authentic. Some insist that there must be cream in the sauce, others consider it blasphemy. The confusion begins already with the pedigree: historians have not yet decided where and when this pasta was born. Translated from Italian, carbonara is coal miners' pasta. According to one legend, she was loved by the workers who burned wood near Rome.
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Carbonara pasta recipes around the world
According to another, less convincing version, carbonara appeared due to the Italian-American friendship. During World War II, American soldiers arrived to defend Italy with bacon and egg powder in their backpacks, and the host country supplied them with pasta. Americans, in their simplicity, mixed pasta with scrambled eggs - and carbonara was born.
The legends don't end there. In 2005, an Italian magazine published an article claiming that carbonara originated in the Osteria delle Tre Corone, in the Veneto region. The Italian oppositionists of the Carbonari once secretly met there, and pasta was named after them. Osteria is still working and successfully feeds guests with carbonara.
The age of the carbonara is the only thing that is beyond doubt. This is a young pasta, it appeared in recipe books only in the middle of the 20th century. Buy good Italian pasta made from durum wheat for her. It is spaghetti that is needed - thin long threads, silky sauce is best distributed over them. How to boil spaghetti correctly so that they do not stick together, our video at the top of the page will tell.
Drain spaghetti in a colander and do not rinse. Be sure to save a glass of water in which the pasta was cooked. Make it a habit, "broth" can always be needed if there is not enough moisture when mixing the pasta with the sauce.
Who hasn't stiffened pasta and stuck together shrimp and green peas? Intuitively, everything, as a rule, is poured. But this way the pasta only gets fatter, and the oil destroys the taste of the sauce. The Italians are smarter, they add a little water from under the pasta. That's when the pasta turns out to be correct, sliding and shiny just like the one served in trattorias on quiet Roman streets.
While the pasta is cooking, chop the bacon. It is better, of course, to take pancetta (it has a more concentrated taste, since the brisket is dried in the sun for a long time), but it is not sold in all stores. Fry the bacon in a skillet over medium heat until the fat is rendered and the pieces are browned. If you turn the burner on high, the bacon may burn.
Break the eggs into a bowl, grate on a fine grater and stir. Gourmets advise to take parmesan and sheep pecorino in half, but believe me, after carbonara with one parmesan, you still want more.
The most crucial moment is to combine bacon, egg mixture and spaghetti. First, add the pasta to the bacon and toss with kitchen tongs. If you mixed them right on the stove, now is the time to take the pan off the heat. It is very important! Why? Look for the answer to this question in the main video.
The sauce should cover every millimeter of spaghetti. The heat of the pasta is enough to melt the cheese and cook the eggs. You don't think carbonara eggs stay raw, do you? If the pasta is sticky and lacks moisture, pour in some of the reserved "broth". In the right carbonara, the sauce glides and shines like silk.
Serve immediately, carbonara can't wait. It is often even advised to lay out on heated plates so that the pasta does not cool longer. In winter, I am ready to eat carbonara at least every evening. This is a perfect, hearty and very tasty pasta. In Russian frosts, it warms from the inside. Try it! Bon appetit!
pasta carbonara
Time
Ingredients(serves 2)
spaghetti - 1 pack (about 250 g)
bacon or pancetta - 75 g
hard parmesan cheese - 50 g
eggs - 2 pcs
yolk - 1 pc.
olive oil - 1 tbsp. spoon
garlic - 1 clove
salt - 1 tbsp. spoon
freshly ground black pepper - 0.5 tsp
Cooking
1. Boil water in a large saucepan (at least five liters), add a tablespoon (or even two) of salt and put spaghetti. The water should be quite salty. Boil as directed on the package. It is better if the pasta turns out al dente, that is, with a tiny white dot inside.
2. Cut the bacon into cubes, chop the garlic. Place a large skillet over medium heat, drizzle in olive oil, add bacon and sauté for 3-5 minutes. During this time, the fat will melt out of the bacon, and it will brown itself. Put the garlic in the middle of cooking. When the bacon is cooked, remove the skillet from the stove and cover with a lid to keep it warm.
3. Grate the cheese on a fine grater. Break eggs into a bowl, add another yolk, pour cheese, pepper and mix.
4. Drain the pasta in a colander, reserving the glass of "broth". Then transfer to the pan with the bacon and toss with kitchen tongs. If you mixed on the stovetop, move the pan to the kitchen counter. Add the egg and cheese paste - work quickly so that it turns into a sauce and coats all the spaghetti. Is the sauce too thick and not silky? Add a few tablespoons of "broth" and stir again. Serve immediately, carbonara can't wait!
