Comments on: Pasta alla Carbonara Recipe

By: Anita Weedon

Anita Weedon — Sun, 21 Mar 2010 16:04:55 +0000

We have just returned from Rome and their carbonara is truly wonderful. As Lola says – no garlic and the egg, with the help of the two cheeses, magically coats the delicate strands. Mmmmm….
I use a good (not too fatty) streaky bacon at home in South Africa (imports just too expensive with the Rand as low as it is at the moment} and it works very well. The secret is in the temperature used to cook the egg/cheese mixture. Haven’t tried this method of using the redisual heat of pasta/bacon to do the work, but am en route to the kithen now to try it out.
Italy we love you…
Anita

By: john

john — Wed, 17 Mar 2010 14:11:08 +0000

Pasta alla Carbonara
Pasta in Carbonara Sauce

Ingredients

■1 pound tubular pasta (spaghetti, linguine, bucatini)
■4 ounces Italian pancetta, cubed
■2 tbsp extra-virgin olive oil
■2 garlic cloves, crushed
■4 large eggs, preferably organic or free-range, room temperature
■1/2 cup Parmesan cheese, freshly grated
■1/4 cup Pecorino-Romano cheese, freshly grated
■salt and pepper

Directions

■Put a pot of salted water on to boil.
■While the water is boiling, add oil, pancetta and garlic to a skillet over med-high heat. Saute and turn occasionally to make sure pancetta does not stick. When pancetta is browned, remove and discard the garlic, turn heat down and keep warm until needed.
■When water boils, add pasta and cook until al dente.
■Lightly beat the eggs and the cheese in the bottom of your serving bowl. Season with salt and pepper.
■When the pasta is done, drain well and add it to the skillet with the pancetta and toss.
■Transfer the pasta to the serving bowl with the eggs immediately and toss. The heat of the pasta and oil will “cook” the eggs.
■Season with more freshly ground black pepper and serve with some additional cheese on top.

By: d. sullian

d. sullian — Mon, 04 Jan 2010 21:12:54 +0000

thanks for the recipes iI was interested in the lemoncello,but don’t like the idea of putting sugar water, I tried that before and it tasted watered down.
I’m going to try it with clear rock candy. I used to make apricot brandy and it was great. I’ll let you know how it turns out
d. sullivan

By: Lola

Lola — Mon, 31 Aug 2009 15:05:18 +0000

Ciao!
My name is Lola, I am an Italian home cook, blogger and food fetishist.
Just as a small side note to Robin’s post about Carbonara, allow me please to make a few corrections. The name of this dish literally means “in the manner of the charcoal miner”. The title Carbonari refers to 19th century freedom fighters called charcoal burners, associated perhaps to their camouflage black face paint. The secret revolutionary society’s goals were patriotic and liberal and they played an key role in the Risorgimento and the early years of Italian nationalism.
Scholars believe that the dish was once popular with these fugitives who lived in the mountains near Rome because the ingredients were easily portable and cooking was fairly uncomplicated. Carbonara is in fact much older than WWII, when luxury foods such as eggs and pork were not accessible in Italy.
If you want to stay true to the Roman heritage of the dish, know that the recipe employs smoked pancetta, which is bacon – and should never include garlic.

Regardless, thanks for posting about traditional Italian food!
Ciao,
~Lola

By: anne

anne — Tue, 18 Aug 2009 12:31:36 +0000

hi Jessica, I just came across this post, I cannot believe you have never made this delightful dish..we eat it quite a bit here, Love it!