Recipe Review: Carbonara

image by jlaceda via Flickr CC IMG_1300 carbonara

This Rachael Ray recipe for basic Carbonara is quick and easy.

I’ve made just a couple of tweaks, but it is still pretty much her original recipe (which you can see HERE.)

• About 3 tablespoons olive oil
• 1/3 pound pancetta or bacon, small dice
• 5 to 6 cloves garlic, chopped
• 1/2 cup dry white wine (could use stock if you don’t have wine handy)
• 3 large egg yolks, separated.  Get rid of the egg whites in another recipe — you don’t need them for this.
• Salt and pepper
• 1 pound pasta such as linguine, spaghetti or egg tagliatelle.  I like the wider pasta for this recipe.
• Grated Pecorino Romano and/or Parmigiano-Reggiano
• 1/2 cup flat-leaf parsley, finely chopped

PREPARATION

Bring a large pot of salted water to boil for pasta.

Heat olive oil, 3 turns of the pan, in a large, deep skillet over medium heat. Add pancetta or bacon, brown 3-4 minutes, then add garlic and some black pepper, and stir 2 minutes more. Add wine and reduce heat to low. Whisk up egg yolks and season with salt and pepper.

Add pasta to salted boiling water and cook to al dente.

Add 1 full cup of starchy cooking water to egg yolks in a slow stream to temper them. Reserve an extra half-cup starchy water in case the pasta gets too tight when you toss it.  Drain pasta and add to pancetta and garlic, remove from heat and toss with egg yolks and handfuls of grated cheeses, parsley, adjust salt and pepper to taste.

That’s it.  If you are the kind of person who always has bacon and parsley on hand, you could make this and be eating it in less than 1/2 hour.

Review:

Be careful when browning the bacon or pancetta.  It can easily burn since you are frying such small pieces.  Likewise, watch the garlic carefully when you add it.  With the already hot bacon grease, the garlic needs much less time than usual to get overly browned.

I didn’t read the recipe carefully enough at first and nearly whisked up the egg whites, too.  That would not work out very well, so don’t do that!  Also, DO take out the pasta water and keep out at least as much as she recommends.  Mine got pretty thick so I added a splash of milk, which may or may not be the Italian way.  I have no idea. It worked in a pinch. Have everything ready for the end — the cheese and the parsley.  It comes together in a flash.  Also — DO use the fresh flat-leave parsley if you can.  It really adds a nice fresh flavor.

Follow the steps for tempering the egg yolks carefully.  You don’t want the eggs to cook too soon.  They melt into the sauce and thicken it with the cheese.

The down side of this recipe is all the grease.  You don’t drain the bacon grease and that PLUS the olive oil adds up to quite a bit.

I suppose you could experiment with draining most of the bacon grease (maybe leave 1 T or so) and then add more water or cheese or something at the end.

I think a little lemon flavor and maybe some green onions would be nice in this.

It might also benefit from a dash of crushed red pepper flakes.

I might try some more variations in the future.  I will let you know when I do!

Overall:

FOUR out of FIVE FORKS!

Really quick and easy, but a little overboard on the oil/grease in my opinion.

Even my very picky nearly 16-year-old daughter ate it (after picking around all the “green stuff”).

Enjoy!  And, as always, please let me know if you try this recipe, how it turns out for you, and how you like it!

image via Flickr CC by cookbookman17; Fresh Parsley —
A bunch of fresh hand picked parsley. This parsley is bursting with flavor and ready for use.

Linguine Carbonarish

Linguine Carbonarish by quirkyjazz aka The Tromp Queen

Carbonara usually has eggs and bacon included in the ingredients.  This one doesn’t so I’m calling it “Carbonara-ish” or Carbonarish for short.

I have delicious sliced leftover in the freezer from Christmas.  I was looking for an idea to use it in a quick dinner tonight.

In one of my cookbooks I saw a recipe for “Hay and Straw.”  Number 1:  I don’t like the name.  Not very appetizing!  2nd:  It was kind of plain.  But I took the idea, tweaked it quite a bit and made this really good dinner.  I declare the recipe “share-worthy” now.

Ingredients:

1 pkg. (16 oz) linguine, cooked al dente
3 cups cooked ham, julienned (I used leftover spiral sliced ham.)
1 T. olive oil and 1 T. butter
1 pkg. cook in the bag in the microwave frozen peas
1 1/2 cups shredded good quality Parmesan cheese
1/2 c. heavy cream (could use half and half)
8 oz. white button mushrooms (sliced)
2 t. butter and 2 t. olive oil
1 t. minced garlic (from a jar is fine or use powder — probably 1/2 t.)
1 t. thyme (or to taste)
salt and pepper to taste as well as additional Parmesan for topping

1.  Put a pot of water on for the pasta.  Add salt.  Turn it up on high.  Throw the peas in the microwave, but set it to undercook them slightly.  (i.e.  4 min. instead of 5 min. — they will cook later on some more).  When the water boils, add the pasta, set the timer for al dente and turn the heat down enough so it doesn’t boil over.

2.  I cooked the mushrooms separately because we have a mushroom hater at our house (SARAH!).  But I actually think it worked really well in this case, and would probably do it again this way.  The last four ingredients are what you need here.  In a medium skillet, heat the butter and oil (you don’t have to measure it, but you don’t need a gob).  Slice the mushrooms.  I admit I rinsed mine off even though I know it isn’t good for them.  Tough.  I don’t like all that dirt looking stuff hanging on there.  Anyway, throw the mushrooms in the hot skillet.  Hat the garlic and thyme.  Stir everything around and let this cook for the rest of the time you have.  Mine got really nicely browned and were very yummy.  Be careful not to burn them, though.  Stir them every once in a while, but let them sit long enough to get a little brown.

3.  While the pasta cooks, dig the ham out of the fridge.  Hopefully you remembered to take it out of the freezer yesterday!  (YAY!  I did!)  Slice off any huge blobs of fat, stack the slices and julienne the heck out of it.  If you are a precise person you can measure 3 cups of ham slices.  If not, just cut up how much you think everyone will eat that night.  It’ll be fine!

4. The peas are probably done.  Just let them hang out in the microwave until you are ready for them.  Get the cheese and cream ready, because it comes together in a flash here at the end.

5.  Drain the pasta.  Remember to stop it at al dente if you can.  Pasta that has no texture is not great to eat.  BLAH.

6.  You can either use your pasta pan or a very large skillet.  Melt the 1 T. butter with the 1 T. olive oil.  Add the julienned ham.  Stir it around til it is hot but not so long that it gets dry and yukky.  Just heat it through.  (You can work on the ham while the pasta is cooking if all goes well, but I had a small gray cat trying to poke her head up onto the table, and I had already dropped a mushroom earlier which was still rolling around under the table, and then …. well, you get the idea).  Grab the peas and add them to the ham in the skillet.  Throw on the shredded parmesan (save some for on top or use extra).  Pour in the cream.  Stir it all together and mix it as well as you can.  I used my wonderful stainless steel pasta fork.  It will not be an easy job, but hang in there.  Everyone can stir it again when they serve themselves so don’t get obsessed.

7.  Yell, “Dinner’s ready!”

Ideas to make it healthier:  Add more kinds of veggies.  Use whole wheat pasta. Make a roux and thicken milk to use instead of the cream.  Use less cheese.

The whole thing from start to finish took less than 30 minutes.  I’m ready for my TV show!