Everybody in my house is currently sick. My toddler is sick, I am sick, and my husband (a.k.a. the other toddler) is sick. We’ve spent the week eating “sick food” and while it is helpful, I really wanted a comfort food today since I am starting to feel a little better.
Back on Wednesday, I was watching a movie called “Heartburn” with Meryl Streep and Jack Nicholson. In this movie, Meryl Streep made Spaghetti Carbonara and she and Jack Nicholson were lying in bed eating it happily. Since then, I have been unable to get my mind off of a big bowl of Spaghetti Carbonara. It is a dish that I love, but it is a dish that can be a little tricky.
It’s one of those recipes that has millions of variations and depending on that variation, it can be one of the greatest things you have ever tasted or it can be one of the worst disasters ever concocted in a kitchen. Usually, when I go to make a tricky dish such as this, I go to a website like FoodNetwork.com where the recipes are submitted by chefs and cooks rather than regular people. I’ve had a lot of bad luck with recipes from AllRecipes.com and RecipeZaar.com because these sites are user generated, and that can mean that that particular recipe was made up and never tested or tested on a boyfriend or mom. Honestly, some of the recipes I have tried from those places have been just awful.
Happily, to my surprise, I came across a great and simple recipe for Spaghetti Carbonara at AllRecipes.com. You can find the recipe and it’s reviews here.
* 1 pound spaghetti
* 1 tablespoon olive oil
* 8 slices bacon, diced
* 1 tablespoon olive oil
* 1 onion, chopped
* 1 clove garlic, minced
* 1/4 cup dry white wine (optional)
* 4 eggs
* 1/2 cup grated Parmesan cheese
* 1 pinch salt and black pepper to taste
* 2 tablespoons chopped fresh parsley
* 2 tablespoons grated Parmesan cheese
If you’ll notice the ingredients and if you’ve never made this dish before, you might be a bit taken aback by the 4 eggs. Spaghetti Carbonara has a bit of a cream sauce that is made by the eggs, cheese, and the little bit of fat. It’s simple and it’s very easy to make…but it can go terribly wrong very easily. I’ll give you what tips I know so that you can enjoy this dish without coming face to face with a curdled mess.
1. In a large pot of boiling salted water, cook spaghetti pasta until al dente. Drain well. Toss with 1 tablespoon of olive oil, and set aside.
(A small note about crisping bacon: Make sure not to over-crowd your pan so as not to boil the bacon. You want to make the bacon very crisp and slowly render the fat. Keep your heat on Medium and do the crisping step in two or three batches.)
2. Meanwhile in a large skillet, cook chopped bacon until slightly crisp; remove and drain onto paper towels. Reserve 2 tablespoons of bacon fat; add remaining 1 tablespoon olive oil, and heat in reused large skillet. Add chopped onion, and cook over medium heat until onion is translucent. Add minced garlic, and cook 1 minute more. Add wine if desired; cook one more minute.
3. Return cooked bacon to pan; add cooked and drained spaghetti. Toss to coat and heat through, adding more olive oil if it seems dry or is sticking together. Add beaten eggs and cook, tossing constantly with tongs or large fork until eggs are barely set. Quickly add 1/2 cup Parmesan cheese, and toss again. Add salt and pepper to taste (remember that bacon and Parmesan are very salty).
4. Serve immediately with chopped parsley sprinkled on top, and extra Parmesan cheese at table.
Okay, now I’ll give you the tips. Tip #1, if you follow this recipe exactly, you will end up with a curdled mess.
Instead of cooking the pasta ahead of time and setting it aside in a bowl, cook it alongside the bacon and add it hot from the pot. When pasta is hot and freshly cooked, it absorbs sauce and flavors. Always use that tip when making a pasta dish for better consistency and better flavor.
Make sure to whisk your eggs VERY WELL. It also helps if you whisk the cheese in with the eggs and add 2 Tblsp. of milk to the mix. It coats the pasta better.
Once you have added the hot pasta to your bacon and onions, turn the heat off. Stir this mixture first to coat the pasta with the fat. Then, while the pasta is still hot, add the egg mixture and stir vigorously until the pasta is covered in a creamy sauce. If you see that the saice is getting sticky or is too thick, add some of your pasta water to the mix and it will thin right out.
This is a great dish and I am feeling so much better after a nice hot bowl of it. Please try it. Enjoy!
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Hey Somer… Hope all of you get well soon .. take care..
FSK
Thank you!