Carbonara, the (almost) traditional way
September 1, 2008
Filed under Asia & beyond, Daddy in the kitchen, Noodle fest
The Italians will tell you that real carbonara has no cream in it. The creamy sauce is actually made with beaten raw eggs and grated cheese. Right after draining, the hot pasta is tossed with the sauce and you work quickly so that instead of totally cooking the eggs, you get a creamy mixture that coats every strand of pasta.
Personally, I have always preferred to cook carbonara the bastardized way. It’s habit. When the kids were very young, I wasn’t sure how safe raw eggs would be for them so I never used raw eggs. Then, the kids got used to the carbonara with cream and that was that. But a few nights ago, my husband and I were watching TV and he saw Nigella Lawson cooking carbonara the traditional way. Realizing how easy it was, he decided that carbonara was what we’d have for dinner on Sunday night. He cooks on Sundays so the decision was really his.
First, cook 250 grams of spaghetti in boiling water. While the pasta cooks, prepare the sauce.
Cut 250 grams of smoked, not honey-cured, belly bacon into small pieces and fry in about a tablespoonful of olive oil. The Italian bacon called pancetta is traditional but that’s a little hard to find here in the boondocks.
Parmesan is traditional but my husband opted for the less pungent medium cheddar. What “medium” cheddar? Cheddar cheese may be mild, medium or sharp depending on the flavor and aroma.
So, grate 250 grams of cheese and set aside.
Crack four eggs into a bowl. Add salt and pepper. Beat well. Add the grated cheese to the beaten eggs and mix well.
When the pasta is done, drain without rinsing and pour into the bacon without removing the bacon fat. Toss and keep tossing until the pasta has absorbed all the oil and juices.
Pour the egg-cheese sauce into the pasta-bacon mixture and toss to coat each strand.
Serve and enjoy!
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Yum! This one looks really yummy… and, lucky you for having a hubby who cooks!
i remember, we cooked this in school way back in elementary. the recipe we used included white wine. great aroma and taste.
Hi Conny,
I’m reading enthusiastic since some weeks in your different diaries - now my first post:
in Italy there are some various recipes for Carbonara, I doubt if the initial was with eggs, because all pasta-recipes came from rural and therefore not so rich people they had have more cows for cream than hens for eggs ;);)
I prefer my recipe with smaller cuttet beacon (or ham), fried with sage-leafs and sour cream - greetings from Tyrol/Austria
Iris
i watched that episode too… was it good?
Ang tsarap naman! I like the traditional “modified” version with the hot pepper flakes with vodka. But I had to stop making it when hubby was tested with high cholesterol. Bacon, cheese and eggs to be kept at minimum. Parmesan cheese is said to be healthier than other cheeses because it’s low fat.
Hi Iris. You might want to see the website of the Academia Italiana Cucina. Search using “carbonara” as keyword. The recipe says eggs, no cream.
Pretty good, Mikky.
Tina, I was under the impression that hard cheeses contain more fat.
Hi Ms. Connie! I always make it a habit to visit your website and I tried some of your recipes. I’m proud to say that my family loved them all. I will try carbonara this weekend. Thank you very much! You really a big help!
Ate Connie,
I remember Giada de Laurentiis mentioning that Parmesan is healthier because it’s lower in saturated fat than other cheeses.
I looked it up here: http://www.peertrainer.com/DFcaloriecounterB.aspx?id=6757
Tina, the link says it is a better source of calcium than other cheeses and that you get less calories from consuming a lesser amount because of its sharper flavor. Saturated fat is listed at 19g. with 1 cup equivalent to 95% of the daily value. One cup divided by 4 (say, 1 cup is good for 4 servings) and that’s almost 25% of the daily value.
High Beam Encyclopedia has a good article on the fat content of soft and hard cheeses.
I love the look and i thinks it’s delicious.
Re cream or eggs: cheese and eggs work perfectly in Carbonara. As most of us probably know cheese comes from a highly concentrated amount of milk and cream is produced by separating milk into cream (itself, yes!) and skim milk and then blending back the cream with milk depending on the fat content or the flavour you want (kudos to present day food technology!)…so if you use cream and cheese you’re actually missing out on the egg, which is a “must” in carbonara…so, thank you Connie girl, my kitchen hero!
So here in the land of the Laps, when I want to make a calorie explosive carbonara I mix eggs, grated cheese and (hold you breath!) sour cream!. A small portion of this carbonara on a slice of iceberg salad leaf actually works well as a cocktail food (never mind how unorthodox it may seem)…it fills up your guests so they’ re easy on your main course buffét and is not that salty so your beverage supply lasts long enough…
thanks ms connie for sharing. in fact, i had just prepared this for lunch today and everyone loved it!
thumbs up!
this looks really easy! will try this soon!
btw, ever tried baking pasta without the oven - just traditional uling? I saw jimmy do this on travel and living and hubby and I planned to try it. good luck to us!
I used to do this before. I mix the eggs with parmesan and cheddar cheese, salt and pepper, and chopped parsley. Then I mix it in the tossed pasta and bacon. What I do is I pour the hot pan of bacon fat, on the pasta still in the colander hoping the excess oil will be drained. THen the cheese and egg mixture I also tried putting the whole dish back on heat and let the eggs curdle a little bit. (Now, I do carbonara with the evap, butter, cheese, and mushroom mixture topped with crumbled bacon because I fear that the previous recipe was too rich)
Hello! Thanks for sharing this recipe. I tried it twice since you published it but I couldn’t seem to arrest the cooking process. I always end up with the egg starting to scramble. Am I doing something wrong?
Siegfried, you have to mix fast, that’s all.
wow, this is kinda easy i think. I will try this tomorrow.