Dinner Life : CARBONARARAMA
We continue our series of dining diaries with food columnist and founder of @DINNER.LIFE Daisy Watson with a silky Carbonara.
The perfect Carbonara can be life-changing. Dramatic? Perhaps. True? One-hundo percent. The beauty of this classic Italian dish is its simplicity. The key to success is using great ingredients and cooking them with purpose.
Luckily, Kent is home to a tonne of enviably brilliant food producers and stockists. To me, this one is all about using the freshest, happiest, local eggs you can find. I love Woodlands Farm eggs. The yolks on those bad-boys are brighter than the sun and they are rich beyond belief. But I encourage you to seek out your closest egg producers and give them a try. Where you can, keeping the journey from farm to plate as short as possible is a nice,
planet-friendly habit to get into. But don’t feel bad if you can’t. Life is hard.
So, if you fancy it, you can support local, grab some top-quality bits and cook yourself up this silken carby delight.
Photo Credit: ©Dinnerlife.co.uk /@dinner.life / @yellowdoor.photo
Carbonararama
Serves 2
Butter
200g dried spaghetti, or as much as you f*cking want, who am I to say?
Salty pasta water
4 slices of smoked streaky bacon or pancetta, cut into thin strips
1 cup of good Parmigiano Reggiano, grated
4 large egg yolks
Freshly cracked black pepper
Salt
Lemon zest
Extra virgin olive oil
1.
Put a large, very salty pot of water on to boil.
2.
Add a little butter or olive oil to a medium-hot pan. Chuck your bacon bits in and let them gently sizzle for 10-15 minutes, or until they’re evenly crisp. Once cooked, transfer onto a plate lined with paper towel and set aside. Make sure you leave the excess bacon fat in the pan for later!
3.
Combine 4 egg yolks and half a cup of Parmigiano Reggiano in a mixing bowl. Season with salt and pepper, whisk, then set aside.
4.
The water should be boiling by now, so put your spaghetti in. Cook it however you like, but I
recommend going al dente, giving the pasta some bite. About 3/4 minutes.
5.
Once cooked, drain the spaghetti. Save a cup of the starchy salty pasta water and set aside.
6.
Dump the spaghetti into the bacon fat pan, on a high heat. Add a few splashes of the reserved water and toss it around for a minute or so, to create a silky, saucy emulsion.
7.
Take the pan off the heat. Working quickly, add the egg and cheese mixture to the pan. With energy, stir, toss and fold together. Add a splash more pasta water or Parmigiano Reggiano if needed. Sprinkle over a dusting of lemon zest and give it another quick toss.
8.
When fully combined and silky smooth, plate up. Top with your crispy bacon bits and some black pepper. Drizzle with extra virgin olive oil and get stuck in!