BREAKFAST PASTA
I admit, this one isn’t an old family recipe. I was inspired to make this by, of all things, The Sims 3. And not my first playthrough, either — I didn’t make this until at least 2011, probably later. It’s quickly become a staple, though. I mean, pasta with bacon, eggs, and cheese? What’s not to love?
This recipe is fairly simple, it just takes time. Some carbonara recipes add cream, some add peas for some reason; mine sticks to the basics. Traditionally, the meat (when there is meat) is pancetta or guanciale, but I’ve grown to prefer the flavor of bacon after trying it with pancetta a couple of times, and I’ve never actually seen guanciale in America. Plus, the basic unit of Italian cooking is the grandmother, and since my grandmother never made this dish, I feel fine in adapting my own version.
Start by dicing some onion and some bacon, and fry them together over medium heat in a deep skillet. It’s going to reduce down eventually, but that will take a while. Stir it to prevent sticking. I was cooking something else at the same time, but that’s another post for later. Eventually (it took me over half an hour, but I was using a small burner), the bacon will crisp up and the onions will be a translucent brown, like this:
At this point, add the parsley and then the wine to the pan. I used a Pinot Grigio, but I’ve also had success with an unoaked Chardonnay and even once some Asti. Sometimes I cook the parsley in the bacon onion mixture for a minute or so before adding the wine; sometimes I soak the parsley in the wine while the bacon browns; sometimes I add them all together. Bring the wine to a boil and then let simmer while you do everything else.
In another bowl, mix the eggs and cheese. I usually use a fork because it is easier to clean than a whisk. I like to crack a bunch of pepper into this mixture and then combine that too. Set this aside — you’re going to need it later, but right now it can just sit there and look yellow.
Boil some pasta. This recipe really works best on a long pasta, such as fettuccine or linguine. If you’re feeling really extravagant, I’ve made this over tortellini and it is to die from. Usually, though, I stick to one of the previous pastas. The pasta will take less than 10 minutes to cook; about five minutes into the boil, ladle out a cup of the starchy water into a heatproof mug and set aside for later.
Once the pasta is al dente, drain it and return it immediately to the pot. Grab your spaghetti fork and the cheese mixture, and stir the mixture into the hot pasta like a crazy person. The heat from the pasta will cook the egg and soften the cheese into a creamy sauce.
After stirring for about a minute, all of the pasta should be covered in a silky egg/cheese coating. This, I’ve heard, is the basic form of carbonara, but it tastes even better when you add bacon and onions to it, so let’s do that. Pour the bacon/onion/wine mixture into the pasta pot and stir to combine everything.
The sauce should be kind of a creamy consistency (see Notes), and there should actually be some liquid in the pot. If there isn’t, add a little of the reserved pasta water to thin it out a bit. Plate and serve. You can grind some more pepper over it, or add more grated cheese if you really want to gild the lily, but it’s fine as it is. The rest of the bottle of wine is a good accompaniment, or you could save that for another dish.
RECIPE
- 1 lb bacon, preferably thick cut, diced into 1/2″ pieces
- 1 large onion, diced
- 1/4 c. dried parsley, or about 1/2 c. fresh flat leaf parsley, minced
- 2 c. white wine, such as a Pinot Grigio or unoaked Chardonnay
- 5 large eggs (or 4 extra large eggs)
- 8 oz. grated Pecorino Romano cheese, or similar
- Black pepper to taste
- Salt for the pasta pot
- 1 lb. long pasta such as linguine or fettuccine
Fry the bacon and onion until the former is crisp and the latter is browned. Add the parsley and wine, bring to a boil, and let simmer. Whisk the eggs, cheese, and black pepper into a bowl, and set aside.
Boil 1 lb. of pasta according to the package directions. 5 minutes or so into the boiling, ladle out a cup of the pasta water and reserve. Drain the pasta after it’s cooked, and return it immediately to the pot without rinsing or cooling or anything.
Stir the egg and cheese mixture into the hot pasta until every noodle is coated, about 1 minute of active stirring. Add the bacon/onion/wine to the pot as well, and stir to combine.
–c
NOTES
The sauce should be, to borrow a phrase from The Sims 3, “goopy”. There should be a small amount of creamy liquid in the pot. Some people see this creamy liquid and think “I should add cream”. These people are wrong. I mean, I’m sure it’s tasty and all, but that seems like it would be almost too rich to eat.
Invite some friends over when you make this dish. It doesn’t always store that well. The pasta tends to absorb all of the liquid while in the fridge and it gets kind of clumpy. I will usually try to ameliorate this by adding some more pasta water to the containers before refrigerating, and sometimes that even sort of works. You can also try to reheat it in a pan, or even eat it cold if you’re into that sort of thing.
Calvin Trillin is somewhat famous for believing that spaghetti carbonara should be served on Thanksgiving in place of turkey. I’m too big a fan of the traditional Thanksgiving meal to substitute it, but I thought I should at least mention the idea.