Or it was. (I am finally 25 this year, wink-wink.) My birthday tradition is to indulge myself by making
Spaghetti Carbonara, which I get to eat once a year. When you read the recipe, you’ll see why…that
bacon fat is NOT drained off! But don’t let that scare you; it melds with the
raw eggs (don’t be scared of that either) and cheeses (stay with me!) into a rich sauce of silky perfection.
Anyway, this recipe is from Cook’s Illustrated, and it will seem fussy, but like most of their
recipes, if you follow the directions precisely, you will be rewarded. And how! Whatever you might think spaghetti
carbonara is from American Italian restaurants, I promise you this is 1000x
better and not that hard to make. Definitely worth those nine zillion calories!
Spaghetti alla Carbonara
¼ cup extra-virgin olive oil
½ pound bacon (6-8 slices), slices halved length-wise, then
cut crosswise into ¼ inch pieces [A little larger is okay]
½ cup dry white wine
3 large eggs
¾ cup finely grated Parmesan (about 2 oz)
¼ cup finely grated Pecorino Romana (about ¾ oz)
3 small garlic cloves, pressed through garlic press or
minced to paste
1 pound spaghetti
Salt
Freshly ground pepper
1. Adjust oven rack to lower-middle position, set
large heatproof serving bowl on rack, and heat oven to 200 degrees. Bring
4 quarts of water to rolling boil in large Dutch oven or stockpot.
2. While water is heating, heat oil in large
skillet over medium heat until shimmering, but not smoking. Add bacon and cook,
stirring occasionally, until lightly browned and crisp, about 8 minutes. Add
wine and simmer until alcohol aroma has cooked off and wine is slightly
reduced, 6-8 minutes. Remove from heat and cover to keep warm. Beat
eggs, cheeses, and garlic together with fork in small bowl; set aside. [It’s
actually helpful if you do this ahead of time and let the eggs rest at room
temperature for a short while.]
3. When water comes to boil, add pasta and 1
tablespoon table salt; stir to separate pasta. Cook until al dente;
reserve 1/3 cup pasta cooking water and drain pasta for about 5 seconds,
leaving pasta slightly wet. Transfer drained pasta to warm serving bowl; if
pasta is dry, add some reserved cooking water and toss to moisten. [I
rarely need to do this.] Immediately pour egg mixture over hot
pasta, sprinkle with 1 teaspoon sea salt flakes or ¾ teaspoon table salt; toss
well to combine. Pour bacon mixture over pasta, season generously
with black pepper and toss well to combine. Serve immediately.
4-6 servings.
Note: This is not the kind of recipe you
can halve or double, so make this amount exactly. It’s best this first day, but
leftovers are still good for lunch: let them sit at room temperature or heat
VERY briefly in the microwave. You don’t want to heat even close to “hot.”