Spaghetti alla Carbonara

We don't make carbonara often, because while it is incredibly delicious, it is equally unhealthy. But we figured that celebration of my birthday is excuse enough.

If you order carbonara in most restaurants, you will likely get some variation on alfredo with bacon and peas. While tasty, the only ingredients this has in common with classic carbonara are the butter and the pasta. The recipe here is based on the carbonara recipe in Guiliano Hazan's Classic Pasta Cookbook, with some modifications.

The recipe as written calls for less pancetta, and omits the mushrooms. Symbol and I like pancetta, so we doubled the amount. The mushrooms are a recent experiment that worked out well. With the additional pancetta and mushrooms, we also added an extra egg to balance out the sauce. If you want the original version back, drop the mushrooms and use two eggs (or four egg yolks) and ⅓C wine; it is delicious either way.

Ingredients
For 1 lb dried, store-bought pasta

• 2 tbsp butter
• 2 tbsp extra-virgin olive oil
• ½ lb mushrooms, sliced thin
• 8 oz pancetta, cut from a ¼" slice into thin strips[1]
• ½C dry white wine
• 3 eggs[2]
• ⅓C freshly grated parmesan cheese
• 1 tbsp finely chopped flat-leaf parsely
• salt and freshly ground black pepper

Procedure

1. Bring water to a boil in a large pot. When it boils, add some salt and the pasta.
2. Meanwhile, put butter and olive oil in a large skillet over medium high heat. When the butter has melted, add the mushrooms. Sautee until they cook down and start to brown.
3. Add the pancetta. Cook until well browned but not crisp.
4. Add the wine and continue cooking until it has reduced by half. Remove from the heat.
5. In a large wok[3], beat the eggs together with the parmesan, parsely, a pinch of salt, and a generous amount of black pepper.
6. When the pasta is cooked al dente, return the skillet with the pancetta to high heat. Drain the pasta, and add it to the wok. Toss until the pasta is well coated.
7. Add the hot pancetta and mushrooms and toss again. The residual heat should cook the egg nicely. If it doesn't, put the wok over medium low heat and continue mixing for another 30-60 seconds to set the egg. Serve.

[1] If you can find pancetta in "bricks", or get it custom cut at the deli, that's best. Failing those, some restaurants sell packages of pre-cut pancetta, but this is a lot more expensive and not as flavourful. If all lse fails, you can use a lean, unsmoked bacon instead.

[2] The original recipe calls for four egg yolks; I typically use two whole eggs, or three if making it with mushrooms, because we rarely have a use for egg whites.

[3] If everything works out as intended, the heat from the pasta and pancetta will perfectly cook the egg. I find it rarely does and being able to apply a bit of extra heat is a good backup plan.

Cheeseburger Pasta

Years ago, a friend of mine on IRC gave me her cheeseburger pie recipe: a meat pie filled with ground beef, onion, dill pickles, and cheese.

It's delicious (and I've had great results taking it to potlucks), but sometimes I don't feel like making a pie crust. So I decided to try using it as a pasta sauce instead, with a few changes to the proportions. The result was fantastic; symbol and I both loved it. And despite the relatively lengthy ingredient list, it comes together quickly and easily.

As far as the pasta goes, you probably want something small-to-medium sized that interacts well with the chunky sauce (i.e. not noodles); pictured here are smallish rigatoni, but penne rigate, cavatappi, or rotini would probably also work well.

Ingredients
For 1 lb dried, store-bought pasta:

• 1 lb ground beef
• 1 large onion
• 4 cloves of garlic (or more to taste), minced or crushed (or equivalent in garlic paste)
• 2 tbsp flour
• ⅔ C milk
• ⅓ C dill pickle brine
• 1 C minced dill pickle
• salt and pepper to taste
• 2 tsp prepared mustard
• ¼ tsp cayenne
• 2 C shredded cheese; a mix of cheddar and parmesan is good, but consider adding mozarella or swiss for additional delicious gooeyness

Procedure

1. Bring the pasta water to a boil. Add salt and pasta as normal.
2. Meanwhile, in a large skillet, brown the beef and onion together over medium high heat.
3. Add the garlic and sautee until fragrant, about 30 seconds.
4. Stir in the flour, then add the milk and pickle brine. Mix well and stir in the salt and pepper, mustard, and cayenne (and/or any other spices you desire).
5.  Reduce heat to medium and cook until noticeably thickened, which should happen extremely fast, perhaps 1 minute.
6. Reduce heat to low. Add the cheese, a fistful at a time, and stir in so that it all melts together into a tasty goo.
7. Once the pasta is ready, drain it and immediately pour the sauce over it and toss well. Nom.

The original recipe notes that "anything that tastes good on a cheeseburger will probably taste good on this"; for the pasta version, I note that mushrooms (especially in combination with swiss in the cheese mix) would probably be a delicious addition.