Pasta Carbonara

When I was a kid around 10 or 11 years old I got my first job working in one of my mother’s restaurants mainly busing tables, washing dishes and simple prep work. It was then I first had pasta alla Carbonara, the chef made it for us for lunch one day it was nothing fancy but the memory lingers to this day! Later when I was about 17 my Mother’s boyfriend at the time moved in with us, he was from Italy and never threw any food away what so ever even scraping what wasn’t eaten off your plate and storing it in the refrigerator to use in something else later on. He use to take what ever pasta was left over toss it in garlic oil and store in the frig, if we had eaten bacon he’d crumble, brake up or chop that too and store it away for later. If you wanted pasta he would simply warm some up in a pan along with the bacon, remove it from the heat toss in an egg some cheese and it was the bomb!! When I was 19 I remember working as a cook in Stockholm and the way we use to prepare Carbonara was first we'd prepare a finished sauce one that was rich and creamy, what was great about that version was we could prep batches of the cream reduction then finish it with what ever the customer wanted and it was always great! I still prepare that version from time to time to this day. In fact I make a pasta dish with bacon, caramelized onions and peppers finished with a little balsamic vinegar to which I add diced butternut squash, the reduced cream sauce, heat through, then off the heat add cheese toss with pasta and it’s the bomb!

At any rate traditionally pasta Carbonara is prepared with fettuccine pasta, pancetta or guanciale which is just another type of Italian bacon, raw egg, though some places will serve this dish with a cooked egg of some sort, and Parmesan or Romano cheese

Shopping List

Pasta, fettuccine or linguini are fine

Bacon

Onion

Shallots

Garlic

Cream

Parmesan Cheese

Eggs

Extra Virgin Olive Oil

Salt and black pepper

My Mad Method

Ready to eat!

Dice or chop about 225g thick cut bacon and sauté the bacon in 1 TBSP olive oil until cooked through but not crispy

 Add a ½ onion diced, 1 small shallot and one garlic minced continue to sauté until the onion is translucent and the aroma is very fragrant

Add 5 dl heavy cream, bring to boil and reduce by half or until desired consistency

 

Beat 2 eggs together

Measure 1-2 dl Parmesan or Romano cheese, I am using a blend of Parmesan, Romano, and Asiago cheese

While the sauce is reducing working in batches heat a second pan add cooked pasta tossed in garlic oil heat through

Remove from heat add the cheese and eggs

Mix to incorporate and to melt cheese

Toss with pasta and serve