The Washington Post - USA (2022-03-02)

E8 EZ EE THE WASHINGTON POST.WEDNESDAY, MARCH 2 , 2022

reheated until warm and crisp,

right before tossing with the

p asta. Avoid using a nonstick skil-

let, which won’t get the meat as

dark or crisp.

You can also decide how much

meat you want, which is why I am

offering a range here. I tested the 8

ounces of pasta m ade with 2 ounc-

es of pancetta and 4 ounces, and

both versions were very good.

The eggs. When I stared down

my somewhat intimidating

spreadsheet breaking down the

dare I say even more of a

b reakfast-for-dinner vibe.

Gill says fattier guanciale

r esults in softer bites of meat.

Pancetta, like bacon, can be ren-

dered crispier. Think about the

texture you’re after and adjust

your cook time accordingly. I ’m a ll

in on crispy, so I followed Hazan’s

advice to cook the pancetta quick-

ly over medium-high heat in a

little butter and olive oil in a

two-part process. First, it’s cooked

until starting to brown. Then it’s

than guanciale. Pancetta is often

sold pre-diced or sliced in super-

markets in the States, making it

easier to source than guanciale,

which can be obtained at s pecialty

markets or shops.

Want to use bacon? While it

may raise eyebrows in Italy, no

one’s stopping you in your own

kitchen. Even Marcella Hazan

suggests bacon as an option in her

carbonara recipe in “Essentials of

Classic Italian Cooking.” It will

bring a smokier flavor to the mix,

Spaghetti Carbonara

2 to 3 servings (makes about 3 1 / 2 cups)

This is the perfect amount for a hungry couple or small family. The

recipe scales up easily for larger crowds.

Total time: 35 mins

This dish is best eaten as soon as it’s made. If you have leftovers, you

can frizzle it with a little butter and/or olive oil in a skillet until warmed

and slightly crispy in spots, but it won’t be the same as when you first

cooked it.

Pancetta is often sold pre-diced at g rocery stores. Italian markets and

delis also carry it.

Adapted from “Giuliano Hazan’s T hirty Minute Pasta: 100 Quick and

Easy Recipes,” by Giuliano Hazan (Stewart, Ta bori and Chang, 2009).

Ingredients

l1 large egg, at room

temperature (see NOTE)

l1 large egg yolk, at room

temperature (see NOTE)

l2 tablespoons freshly grated

Parmigiano-Reggiano

l2 tablespoons freshly grated

pecorino Romano

l1 tablespoon finely chopped

fresh parsley (optional)

lFine salt

lFreshly ground black pepper

l2 to 4 ounces pancetta, diced

(may substitute guanciale or

bacon)

l1 tablespoon olive oil

l1 tablespoon unsalted butter

l3 tablespoons dry white wine

l8 ounces (227 grams) dried

spaghetti

Steps

lFill a large pot with about

3 quarts of water, place over

high heat and bring to a boil.

lWhile the water is coming to a

boil, prepare the rest of the

i ngredients. Using the large,

shallow bowl you’ll be serving

the pasta in, combine the whole

egg, egg yolk, Parmigiano-

R eggiano, pecorino Romano

and parsley, if using. Season

with a little salt and a generous

amount of black pepper. Using a

fork, whisk until thoroughly

combined but not so much that

you beat a lot of air into the

mixture.

lIn a 1 0-inch skillet over

m edium-high heat, combine t he

pancetta, olive oil and butter

and cook until the pancetta

b egins to brown but not long

enough to make it crisp, 4 to

5 minutes. Add the wine and

cook until reduced by half,

scraping up any brown bits on

the bottom of the p an, 1 to 2 min-

utes. Remove from the heat.

lCarefully remove about 1 table-

spoon of the rendered fat and

add it to the egg mixture to begin

to temper the sauce, quickly

whisking again with the fork.

lWhen the water comes to a boil,

add 1 tablespoon of salt and the

spaghetti and stir until all the

strands are submerged. Cook

a ccording to the package

i nstructions, stirring occasion-

ally, until t he pasta is al dente, or

mostly done with just a little bit

of bite left.

lWhen the pasta is almost ready,

return the skillet with the panc-

etta to medium-high heat. When

the pasta is done, drain, reserv-

ing 1 cup of the w ater, and trans-

fer it to the serving bowl, tossing

vigorously with tongs or stirring

with a wooden spoon until thor-

oughly coated with the egg mix-

ture. Pour half of the pancetta

into the bowl, toss again, and

add pasta water as needed to

achieve your preferred sauce

consistency. Add the remaining

pancetta without stirring so you

have plenty visible on top. Serve

immediately.

lNOTE: Use pasteurized eggs,

such as Davidson’s brand, if you

are concerned about eating

u ndercooked eggs.

Nutrition | Per serving (1^1 / 4 cups pasta, using

2 ounces pancetta), based on 3: 529

calories, 18 g protein, 58 g carbohydrates,

23 g fat, 9 g saturated fat, 153 mg

cholesterol, 518 mg sodium, 2 g dietary fiber,

2 g sugar

Recipe tested by Becky Krystal; email

questions to [email protected]

elements of nine different refer-

ence recipes, this category offered

the most variation. Some recipes

rivaled custard or ice cream, call-

ing for a half dozen or more yolks.

I had a feeling that would be a bit

rich for my tastes and, frankly, the

thought of having to deal with so

many excess whites was a turnoff.

Gill suggests one egg per person as

a good baseline to start. As a s light

tweak on that concept, I liked

Hazan’s balance of an equal num-

ber o f whole eggs and yolks — h ere

that’s one of each.

The whites are rich in protein,

so they give the sauce body, Hazan

says. The yolks bring richness and

luscious texture. An excess of

whites can turn things soupy or

even slimy, so dropping just one

from the sauce here (easy enough

to toss into a batch of scrambled

eggs) ensured a smooth but stable

sauce.

Because the eggs are so promi-

nent, I recommend getting the

best that you can buy. Eggs from

your local farmers market or farm

stand would be great here, espe-

cially because they tend to have

more vividly colored yolks, which

will lend vibrancy to the finished

sauce. If you’re concerned about

undercooked eggs, pick up a

brand that is pasteurized, such as

Davidson’s. Hazan says it’s best to

have the eggs at room tempera-

ture before you start the dish.

The pepper. A generous grind

— or many grinds — of black

pepper is a signature element of

carbonara. Ideally, you are grind-

ing the pepper yourself for the

best flavor. Have you had the same

peppercorns for years? Might be

time to replace them. Remember,

each ingredient needs to shine

here. If you’re shopping for new

spices, Gill r ecommends swinging

by the s pice shop so you can exper-

iment with different black pepper

varieties, which, as my colleague

Aaron Hutcherson recently n oted,

can boast distinctive flavors de-

pending on where they’re grown.

Tr y them individually or mixed

together for a custom flavor pro-

file unique to your carbonara.

The wild cards. Like his moth-

er, Hazan admits to including a

few less traditional ingredients in

his carbonara — dry white wine

and parsley. The wine goes into

the hot skillet after the pancetta

has started to brown. It’s cooked

down to concentrate the flavor so

that it can add volume, brightness

and acidity to the sauce. Hazan

includes parsley for freshness. “I

think they go really well together,”

he says. After finding an early test

a little one-note in terms of salty

richness, I agreed that these two

ingredients, while not overpower-

ing, added just the right amount

of contrast to the dish. If the

thought of including them raises

your hackles, feel free to leave

them out.

Managing heat is one of the

most crucial aspects of master-

ing carbonara. “You definitely

don’t want pasta with scrambled

egg,” Gill says. The right amount

of heat will thicken and set the

eggs — cook, if you will, though it

can be hard to guarantee they

have reached the temperature the

government considers a safe

threshold — without scrambling

them.

There are a number of ways to

ensure you are gently but effi-

ciently heating the eggs. In Haz-

an’s m ethod, “the heat o f the p asta

seems to be exactly the right tem-

perature to thicken the eggs”

while leaving them creamy. The

freshly d rained pasta goes directly

into the serving bowl where you

have already blended the e ggs and

cheese so that the sauce starts to

come together as soon as it hits the

hot noodles. Some recipes call for

the eggs to be tempered, so that

they are less likely to scramble or

seize up. This can be done with

pasta water, but I took another tip

from Missy Robbins in “Pasta: T he

Spirit and Craft of Italy’s Greatest

Food, with Recipes.” She uses

some of the rendered pork fat to

temper the egg and cheese mix-

ture, so as soon as I pulled the

pancetta off from its first trip to

the burner, I removed about a

tablespoon of the fat and incorpo-

rated it into that mixture in the

bottom of my serving bowl. Not

only does it bring up the tempera-

ture of the eggs, it also helps the

cheese get a jump-start in melting

so you don’t end up with unincor-

porated shreds after tossing.

Some cooks prefer mixing the

sauce in a double boiler, or a bowl

set over a p an of simmering water,

which is one of the methods Gill

and Parla share in their book. The

duo calls the method “foolproof,”

and it has the benefit of a gentler

but persistent heat, even more so

than the residual warmth of the

pasta. This can be especially help-

ful when making bigger batches

with larger amounts of c heese and

eggs.

Hazan warns against putting

the eggs directly over the heat of

the stove, which is one way you

can easily end up with a scram-

bled sauce. Gill says she has seen

chefs do it in restaurants. She and

Parla include a recipe variation f or

this method, too, in which the

drained pasta is added to the pan

in which you’ve cooked the meat,

before putting it back over low

heat while you stir in the egg and

cheese mixture. It may not be the

method for nervous beginners,

but it’s certainly an option if

you’re confident in your ability to

avoid overcooking the eggs. For

this method, Gill and Parla say to

avoid using a nonstick skillet.

Timing goes hand in hand

with heat. It may take a few tries

to get into your groove — it did for

me — but i deally you’ll sync up the

different stages of the process so

that you’re working efficiently

and putting your best plate of

pasta on the t able. Start by getting

the water boiling (it always takes

longer than you think!), then get

the pancetta cooking. While that’s

happening, assemble the sauce

ingredients in your bowl so

they’re ready as soon as the pasta

is done, because, as noted above,

the residual heat is what brings

everything together. When the

pasta is almost done, slide the

pancetta back onto the burner to

reheat and ensure last-minute

crispiness. After too often finding

pancetta piled on the bottom or

sides of the bowl, I decided toss

the pasta with half the meat and

then add the rest so that there’s

still plenty on top that doesn’t get

left behind.

Carbonara is one of those dish-

es best eaten as soon as its made s o

that the sauce is warm and glossy

and not gloopy and cold. Bonus

points if you warm your plates in

the oven, assuming they’re oven-

safe. It’s more hoops than I want-

ed to go through, but you could

also choose to mix the p asta in one

bowl and have a separate bowl

warmed in the oven or with the

pasta water you drain off to buy

yourself extra time when you’re

ready to serve.

If you happen to have leftovers,

refrigerate them and reheat in a

skillet with a little butter and/or

olive oil until warmed through

and slightly crisped in spots (the

crispy bits are what my colleague

and carbonara aficionado Olga

Massov’s family fights over). “The

thing is not to expect to be able to

bring it back to what it was origi-

nally, because you can’t,” Hazan

says. Enjoyable, yes, just not the

same.

Practice. If you’re anything like

me, your first carbonara may be

far from perfect. Don’t beat your-

self up. With practice, you’ll be

cranking out better batches in

even better time. Truly, the pros-

pect of a stick-to-your-ribs bowl of

pasta made with a handful of

pantry and refrigerator staples

that comes together in a shade

over half an hour is well worth the

effort. And it may soon become a

family go-to, even on harried

weeknights. Says Hazan, “it’s cer-

tainly an easy dinner to put to-

gether.”

the best carbonara, you know,”
says Gill.
As G ill and c o-author Katie Par-
la write in “Tasting Rome,” “The
origins of the dish a re as elusive as
the p erfect r ecipe.” There’s g eneral
agreement that carbonara first
appeared in Rome in the 1950s or
196 0s. An oft-repeated legend
cites inspiration from the Ameri-
can soldiers after World War II
who supposedly mixed bacon
with powdered eggs and pasta.
Another common theory Hazan
explains has to do with the way
ground black pepper resembles
coal dust, “ carbone” being t he Ital-
ian word for coal.
Part of the beauty of carbonara
(beyond its affinity with romance
thanks to an appearance in Nora
Ephron’s semi-autobiographical
book, and movie, “Heartburn”) is
its simplicity. A few ingredients
put together in the right way
yields a sublime result. The dan-
ger? With such minimalism, there
isn’t much room to hide flaws, as I
found out in testing.
To ensure you make your best
carbonara just the way you like it,
let’s break down the main
e lements and keys to success.
The pasta. It’s in the name of
this recipe, so you won’t be sur-
prised that Hazan likes carbonara
made with spaghetti. Longer pas-
ta is ideal for twirling to pick up all
the sauce, he says. Other long
pastas he suggests are bucatini,
which is thicker than spaghetti
with a hollow center, and spaghet-
toni, or wider spaghetti. Pass on
thinner varieties such as angel
hair and spaghettini (not to be
confused with spaghettoni!).
Unsurprisingly, you won’t get
consensus on pasta shape. Gill
and Parla offer a recipe for car-
bonara made with rigatoni in
their book. The wide, tubular pas-
ta is often offered in Roman res-
taurants, Gill says, although you
may have the option of choosing
between it and spaghetti.
Regardless of which shape you
use, aim for cooking the pasta al
dente, so that there’s still a little
bite left. Chef Matt Adler of Caru-
so’s Grocery in Washington says
you can judge this by removing a
piece of pasta from the water
using tongs or a slotted spoon and
running it under cold water (do
this only for the test bite). Take a
bite — you’ll feel a bit of resistance
but not a lot. (Adler’s mother
taught him that if it sticks to your
teeth, it’s not ready.) Then take a
look at the inside of the pasta. For
shapes such as spaghetti or lin-
guine, you’ll see a small dot in the
center where the pasta’s not yet
fully cooked, since it cooks from
the outside in. You’ve reached the
right level of doneness when the
ratio is roughly 90 percent cooked
to 10 percent uncooked, Adler
says. The pasta will finish cooking
as you assemble the dish.
The cheese. Parmigiano-Reg-
giano and pecorino Romano are
the typical cheeses used in car-
bonara, Hazan says. Pecorino is a
sheep’s m ilk cheese that i s sharper
and, you guessed it, from Rome.
Parmigiano-Reggiano is m ellower
and creamier, Hazan says. While I
liked a 50-50 split between the
two, a slight modification from
Hazan’s formula, it’s easy to tweak
the ratios to suit your tastes. Use a
blend or just one. Experiment and
see what you like. How much
cheese you use is between you a nd
your stomach. This recipe em-
ploys 1/4 cup total for 8 ounces of
pasta, which I thought was the
right amount for imparting rich-
ness and silky texture to the s auce.
To o little will be bland and insuffi-
cient to coat the pasta, and too
much may yield either a gloppy
mess or a bowl with clumps of
unmelted cheese.
The most important advice:
“You should get good cheese,” Gill
says. It’s such a primary driver of
texture and flavor that it can make
or b reak the dish. D on’t u se cheese
from a canister, and don’t go for
pre-shredded varieties. You’re
counting on the residual heat of
the pasta to melt the cheese and
bring together the sauce, so the
cheese must be finely grated.
Large shreds or chunks won’t m elt
properly. You can use a rasp-style
grater, such as a Microplane, or
the small holes on a box grater,
which is my go-to. Head to the
cheese counter or your local
cheese shop or Italian market. A
good cheesemonger or shop will
be happy to provide you with a
sample.
The pork. In Italy, the meat of
choice is often guanciale, which is
made from pork jowls, or cheeks.
Hazan says it’s richer and sweeter,
and somewhat more spiced, when
compared to pancetta, which is
what I use here and what Hazan
includes in his recipe. Pancetta,
like bacon, is made from pork
belly and has more meat attached

CARBONARA FROM E1

Simplicity is one of the things that make this pasta sublime

RECIPE FINDER.SEARCH MORE THAN 9.700 POST-TESTED RECIPES AT WASHINGTONPOST.COM/RECIPES.RECIPE QUESTIONS? EMAIL [email protected]

PHOTOS BY REY LOPEZ FOR THE WASHINGTON POST; FOOD STYLING BY LISA CHERKASKY FOR THE WASHINGTON POST

Guanciale is the traditional cured pork used in carbonara, but pancetta, above, might be more readily

available. You could substitute bacon, though the smokiness might raise eyebrows among Italians.