Carbonara

While on vacation this week, I watched a famous Japanese cooking show called “Today’s Food”. They made carbonara and I liked their techniques, so took notes to share with you.

Today’s Food Carbonara
serves 1

100g pancetta, cut into sticks
3 Tbsp olive oil
1 Tbsp brandy
1 egg
2 egg yolks
4 Tbsp cream
4 Tbsp fresh parmesan, grated
pasta of your choice
1 Tbsp parsley, chopped
black pepper

Whisk together egg, yolks, cream and cheese. Chill. This will prevent the egg from scrambling when you add it to the pasta.

Fry the pancetta in olive oil until crisp. Remove half of the bacon from the pan. Drain the oil from the pan and discard. If grease still remains, wipe the pan carefully with a paper towel.

Cook the pasta until slightly softer than al dente. remove from water, reserving some of the cooking liquid.

Reheat the bacon pan and deglaze with brandy (or white wine). Add the pasta and a couple tablespoons of the pasta water, stirring to incorporate bacon.

Remove from heat and pour the egg mixture over the pasta, stirring well. The heat from the pasta will cook the egg. If the sauce gets too thick, adjust the consistency with some more of the pasta water.

Garnish with the pancetta you set aside, plus parsley and plenty of coarsely crushed black pepper.

Posted by kuri at February 17, 2005 07:04 AM