Sea Six
01-05-2014, 6:15pm
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This is one of those absolutely delicious dinners you can get at a good Eye-talian restaurant.
It's surprisingly easy. Another reason I like it is because it's one of those dishes that comes together as you make it. If your kitchen is set up so that your guests can watch you prepare it before their eyes, it's a great way to perk up their appetites.
I'd put this at a 3 / 10 for difficulty. The scallops dish I've posted earlier is probably a 2 / 10 for difficulty.
It takes less than 30 minutes including preparation of the ingredients.
Easily serves 4 (more if you have any other side dishes in addition to the Pasta Carbonara)
Ingredients:
Penne Pasta (8 oz)
1/2 Cup thickest sliced bacon you can find... or even unsliced slab bacon (smoked is ok, I would avoid maple syrupy kind)
1/2 onion diced
2 cloves garlic diced
2 scallions - dice the white parts, thinly slice the green tops for garnish
1/2 to 3/4 cup heavy cream or half-and-half
2 egg yolks
3/4 cup finely grated Parmesan cheese
1 cup green peas - frozen is fine, thaw them out first
Boil some water with a little salt in it. Add the Penne pasta at a full boil. As it's cooking, stir it a couple of times to make sure none of the noodles are sticking to one another or the bottom. Turn off the heat after 6-7 minutes (this is well before it even gets to the al dente stage).
Slice the bacon into 1/4 or 1/2 inch chunks. Toss them in another pot over medium high heat. You're going to let them render down just about as completely as possible.
Dice half an onion. After the bacon has been rendering for at least 5 minutes or so, add the onion to the bacon and fat that's still rendering. Turn down the heat to medium.
Mince a couple of cloves of garlic. When you add these to the pot, I suggest putting these on top of the onion, not on the bottom of the pan. It will have less chance of burning while you're chopping the scallions.
Dice the white parts of the scallions. Add them to the pot.
Let the bacon continue to render a little, and then give everything a good stir. Before the garlic gets brown (or maybe when it just starts turning very light brown) pour in about half of your cream. Later, as everything comes together, you'll add the rest.
Add the pasta (undrained) to the pot with the bacon and other ingredients. Don't discard the pasta water. Stir the pasta around to coat every noodle with the white sauce that you're beginning to form. Put the two egg yolks in the pot, taking care that neither one touches the bottom of the pot- dump them on the pasta and immediately start stirring the egg yolks to coat every noodle. If the yolks touch the bottom of the pot, or if you don't stir them pretty quickly, the yolk will start to cook and you don't want that to happen.
Start the water that you used for pasta to boiling again. Toss the peas in a strainer and drop them into the boiling pasta water for two minutes. You're just blanching them; not cooking them fully. They'll continue cooking after you add them to the Carbonara. After two minutes take them out of the pasta water and set them aside on a plate, still in the strainer. No need for an ice bath; they're going in the warm Carbonara dish in a few more minutes.
Add the Parmesan cheese and keep stirring. You can add the rest of the cream or just use milk, and even a little of the pasta water (not more than 1/4 cup total liquid). You're making the mixture creamier and a bit more liquid. Keep stirring. The white sauce gets creamier and creamier as you stir. After a couple of minutes of adding liquid of your choice and stirring, toss the peas in and give it another stir.
Add some fresh ground black pepper to the pot.
To plate, add a generous amount to a large heavy bowl that's been warmed. Garnish with a tablespoon or so of more finely grated Parmesan cheese on top. Add a few thinly sliced green tops from the scallions and serve immediately.
This is so good, you'll be thoroughly enjoying every single bite.
This is one of those absolutely delicious dinners you can get at a good Eye-talian restaurant.
It's surprisingly easy. Another reason I like it is because it's one of those dishes that comes together as you make it. If your kitchen is set up so that your guests can watch you prepare it before their eyes, it's a great way to perk up their appetites.
I'd put this at a 3 / 10 for difficulty. The scallops dish I've posted earlier is probably a 2 / 10 for difficulty.
It takes less than 30 minutes including preparation of the ingredients.
Easily serves 4 (more if you have any other side dishes in addition to the Pasta Carbonara)
Ingredients:
Penne Pasta (8 oz)
1/2 Cup thickest sliced bacon you can find... or even unsliced slab bacon (smoked is ok, I would avoid maple syrupy kind)
1/2 onion diced
2 cloves garlic diced
2 scallions - dice the white parts, thinly slice the green tops for garnish
1/2 to 3/4 cup heavy cream or half-and-half
2 egg yolks
3/4 cup finely grated Parmesan cheese
1 cup green peas - frozen is fine, thaw them out first
Boil some water with a little salt in it. Add the Penne pasta at a full boil. As it's cooking, stir it a couple of times to make sure none of the noodles are sticking to one another or the bottom. Turn off the heat after 6-7 minutes (this is well before it even gets to the al dente stage).
Slice the bacon into 1/4 or 1/2 inch chunks. Toss them in another pot over medium high heat. You're going to let them render down just about as completely as possible.
Dice half an onion. After the bacon has been rendering for at least 5 minutes or so, add the onion to the bacon and fat that's still rendering. Turn down the heat to medium.
Mince a couple of cloves of garlic. When you add these to the pot, I suggest putting these on top of the onion, not on the bottom of the pan. It will have less chance of burning while you're chopping the scallions.
Dice the white parts of the scallions. Add them to the pot.
Let the bacon continue to render a little, and then give everything a good stir. Before the garlic gets brown (or maybe when it just starts turning very light brown) pour in about half of your cream. Later, as everything comes together, you'll add the rest.
Add the pasta (undrained) to the pot with the bacon and other ingredients. Don't discard the pasta water. Stir the pasta around to coat every noodle with the white sauce that you're beginning to form. Put the two egg yolks in the pot, taking care that neither one touches the bottom of the pot- dump them on the pasta and immediately start stirring the egg yolks to coat every noodle. If the yolks touch the bottom of the pot, or if you don't stir them pretty quickly, the yolk will start to cook and you don't want that to happen.
Start the water that you used for pasta to boiling again. Toss the peas in a strainer and drop them into the boiling pasta water for two minutes. You're just blanching them; not cooking them fully. They'll continue cooking after you add them to the Carbonara. After two minutes take them out of the pasta water and set them aside on a plate, still in the strainer. No need for an ice bath; they're going in the warm Carbonara dish in a few more minutes.
Add the Parmesan cheese and keep stirring. You can add the rest of the cream or just use milk, and even a little of the pasta water (not more than 1/4 cup total liquid). You're making the mixture creamier and a bit more liquid. Keep stirring. The white sauce gets creamier and creamier as you stir. After a couple of minutes of adding liquid of your choice and stirring, toss the peas in and give it another stir.
Add some fresh ground black pepper to the pot.
To plate, add a generous amount to a large heavy bowl that's been warmed. Garnish with a tablespoon or so of more finely grated Parmesan cheese on top. Add a few thinly sliced green tops from the scallions and serve immediately.
This is so good, you'll be thoroughly enjoying every single bite.