An occasion when a recipe develops around an ingredient. I had a little pack of Waitrose diced #pancetta left over from another meal. We had just watched Stanley Tucci’s, ‘Searching For #italy m’, his episode from #Rome. So I thought I’d have a go at #Spaghetti #Carbonara. I watched the programme & decided to do the “secret” ratio of 70% #Pecorino Romano & 30% #Parmagiano. I cheated a bit as our #Italian Deli has a fantastic aged #GranaPadano for a lot less.
A trick ftom Jamie Oliver, I put the pancetta in a cold pan & then heat it on moderate gas. Controversial but I put a peeled & slightly squashed garlic clove in the middle of the pan. Once pancetta was cooked I removed the garlic.
Spaghetti boiled for 8 minutes with a tiny pinch of salt.
I used an extra egg yolk to a whole egg & whisked it up. Another Jamie idea, I pounded black peppercorns with pestle & mortar & then sieved to just get the hot interior. Sprinkled a bit of the pepper into the egg and added 25g of the cheeses. When the spaghetti was cooked I slopped it over into the pancetta with a few spoons of pasta water to stop it frying.
I turned the heat off the frying pan & added the egg/cheese mix & ‘lifted’ the spaghetti to mix without allowing the egg to scramble.
Into pasta bowls, sprinkle with cheese mix and more pepper. Then serve with salad.
The #wine probably should have been from Lazio, but I’m in love with #Primitivo from #Puglia.
I think, if you are careful, this is not that difficult. Just be swift after adding the egg with heat off.