Real carbonara — no cream. The sauce comes from egg yolks, cheese and the pasta cooking water. A simple technique that calls for quick hands, with a wonderful result.
⏱ 30 min🍽 4 servings 🌍 Mediterranean👩🍳 Afoona🧩 2 parts
Cook the pasta in plenty of boiling salted water (4¼ cups of water and a heaping teaspoon of salt for every 4 oz of pasta), following the package directions (taste about 2 minutes early), until al dente.
⚙ Cooking in salted waterStovePot
💡The water should taste like a seasoned soup, not like sea water: a heaping teaspoon of salt per liter. Add the salt once the water is boiling.
2
Reserve cup of the cooking water before draining.
⚙ Saving the cooking waterLadleorMeasuring cup
💡The cooking water is starchy: a spoonful or two binds the sauce to the pasta or the gnocchi and makes it glossy.
3
Drain.
Colander
To assemble
4
Heat the olive oil in a wide pan over medium heat and fry the bacon and garlic cloves for about 8 minutes, stirring, until the bacon is crisp.
⚙ Pan-fryingStoveFrying pan
💡What you brown (meat, patties, schnitzel) goes into hot oil: in lukewarm oil it soaks it up and comes out greasy. For onion and garlic that you soften, oil heated over medium or low heat is enough; do not wait for it to smoke.
5
Remove the garlic cloves from the pan.
6
In a bowl, whisk the yolks, eggs, cheeses and black pepper.
BowlWhisk
7
Turn off the heat under the pan, immediately add the hot drained pasta and toss it in the fat.
8
Add the yolk mixture and toss quickly with a little of the cooking water, until a creamy sauce coats the pasta.
💡The eggs go in only off the heat: the heat of the pasta and the cooking water thickens them into a sauce, while a lit flame turns them into scrambled eggs.
9
Serve immediately with extra Parmesan and freshly ground black pepper on top.
813calories
43 gprotein
74 gcarbs
36 gfat
● protein 22%● carbs 37%● fat 41%
Per serving (216 g), of 4 servings
For the Cooked pasta · To assemble ·
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⚖ About the ingredients
Pasta: measured in pieces: one ≈ 20 g · 371 kcal per 100 g · More about Pasta →
Stove· 💡 Workaround, changes the dish: Portable hot plate (one weaker burner) · Camping gas stove (One burner, outdoors) · Electric pressure cooker (multicooker) (One pot, no real shallow frying)
Frying pan· Also works: Wok (None)· 💡 Workaround, changes the dish: Pot (High sides, slow evaporation and weak browning)
Pot· Also works: Deep skillet (sauté pan) (less liquid, faster evaporation)· 💡 Workaround, changes the dish: Wok (For quick cooking)
Bowl· Also works: Pot (None)
Colander· Also works: Lid (a lid held slightly open over the sink, you lose a little) · Slotted spoon (for small amounts)
Whisk· Also works: Hand mixer (None)· 💡 Workaround, changes the dish: Fork (Beat with a fork, less air)
Ladle or Measuring cup· one of them
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