More comfort food - Carbonara

Groucho



Joined: 26/04/2008
Posts: 7993

Message Posted:
24/10/2008 18:35

Spaghetti Carbonara is one of life's great quick and easy dishes that tastes like you've spent hours in the kitchen... whereas this classic recipe should take no more than 25 minutes top to tail..

1 tablespoon of olive oil

A good knob of butter

2 or 3 cloves of garlic (more if you like) crushed and chopped

5 slices of smoked streaky bacon or other fatty smoked bacon pieces cut int small pieces

1/2 cup dry white wine

2 eggs beaten

1 cup grated Cheddar or Pecorino cheese

1/4 cup grated Parmesan

Pasta (spaghetti) for four

Freshly ground black pepper

Sprig parsley chopped to dress (opt)



Heat oil and butter; add garlic and bacon, medium-low heat 3 mins. Add wine and cook further 2 mins. Put to one side...

Season eggs and add grated cheese stirring well.

Cook pasta. Drain - reheat garlic and bacon for 1 min and add to drained pasta - add egg and cheese mix. stir all ingredients to ensure good coverage...

Serve at once with a sprinkle of parsley if desired...



Enjoy!

joandjelly


Joined: 24/02/2008
Posts: 2953

Message Posted:
24/10/2008 18:44

Mmm lovely and not a drop of cream in sight! I love a proper Carbonara made with eggs. Scrumptious.

Groucho



Joined: 26/04/2008
Posts: 7993

Message Posted:
24/10/2008 18:56

Yes no cream... it's just not needed.. don't know who first thought it was a good idea to add cream to a perfect recipe but they should be boiled in oil... or er, told off or something....

joandjelly


Joined: 24/02/2008
Posts: 2953

Message Posted:
24/10/2008 20:52

I totally agree Groucho. I never order Carbonara in a restaurant because they are always made with cream.

Coachie



Joined: 29/07/2008
Posts: 2135

Message Posted:
24/10/2008 20:57

Groucho ...Your at it again, please dont put my favourites on the forum cos you only get me in trouble with her indoors...

wynyardman



Joined: 15/12/2007
Posts: 4580

Message Posted:
24/10/2008 20:59

Groucho,



You greedy old devil!



Have you got a spare place for dinner?



wyn

no1doyen


Joined: 04/07/2008
Posts: 16617

Message Posted:
24/10/2008 21:14

Groucho- only you could post like that.

Groucho



Joined: 26/04/2008
Posts: 7993

Message Posted:
24/10/2008 22:26

Forgot to say to anyone worried about the egg being uncooked... it's cooked on contact with the hot pasta and garlic, bacon and oil mixture...



If you have a side dish of steamed (or microwaved) brocolli it's even healthier...

PtePike



Joined: 20/05/2008
Posts: 2334

Message Posted:
24/10/2008 23:14

Egg AND cream. You know it makes sense...

The butler


Joined: 22/06/2007
Posts: 1958

Message Posted:
24/10/2008 23:27

Sorry Groucho,



But as a cook and having worked in Italy for several years, you have to add cream or else it is not authentic. I suppose you could substitute Creme fraise

but only using eggs NO NO.



The Butlers wife

joandjelly


Joined: 24/02/2008
Posts: 2953

Message Posted:
25/10/2008 00:25

Err tell that to Antonio Carluccio!! http://www.antonio-carluccio.com/Spaghetti_alla_Carbonara

neil27


Joined: 16/07/2008
Posts: 93

Message Posted:
25/10/2008 01:06

I have to agree with PtePike and the Butler - you need the cream to make a nice smooth cheese sauce. If you only use eggs you are very likely to end up with cheesy scrambled eggs - very nice but not carbonara.

Groucho



Joined: 26/04/2008
Posts: 7993

Message Posted:
25/10/2008 07:59

Neil and the "Cream Brigade" have obviously never even tried proper Carbonara.. I can tell because you use the phrase "likely to" instead of does.



I've had and cooked both types many times and I know which one is authentic and also tastes (which let's face it, is the acid test) the better....



You can add cream if you want but it is not necessary and certainly not part of the classic recipe. It just adds more fat into the equation... It can make it more like spaghetti in a creamy cheese sauce which is not what it's meant to be...



Try the recipe first...

The butler


Joined: 22/06/2007
Posts: 1958

Message Posted:
25/10/2008 10:29

joandjelly,



so 1oz of lard and 1oz of butter is better than 2ozs of cream? I don't think so.



Groucho It is all up to the individual taste and if you prefer it without the cream that is up to you but it must be like small pieces of scrambled egg instead of a smooth sauce coating every piece of pasta. As I have said I lived in Italy for 6 years and I have eaten it many times but never made the way you suggest.



The Butlers wife

Groucho



Joined: 26/04/2008
Posts: 7993

Message Posted:
25/10/2008 11:44

Butler,



You are guilty of presumption that this scrambling effect will happen...

Well we had it several times in italy this year and we never had it with cream... as for it being like scrambled egg... try it.. it's not. The eggs mixed with the cheese make a smoother sauce than you think... it becomes a classic emulsion in fact. If you added it without mixing in the cheese first and without adding it to the pasta properly it might... but I've never found it to happen in hundreds of times cooked... Once egg mix is added to pasta it does not go back on the heat.



Using cream was probably dreamt up by somebody as a "cheat"... possibly sponsored by the Milk Marketing Board!



English chefs have often taken classic dishes from around the world and adapted them to make their lives "easier"... my point is that in this case they needn't have done so... it's child's play. My son age 13 makes it for us about once a month... if he can do it... so can you/they....

joandjelly


Joined: 24/02/2008
Posts: 2953

Message Posted:
25/10/2008 11:46

But it isn't like scrambled egg! Give it a try because you might actually like it. Of course it is a matter of personal taste but a true Carbonara is not made with cream because it isn't supposed to be a cream sauce. My old boss is Italian and lived there for 35 years (not that it makes any difference) and wouldn't dream of making it with cream.



It's horses for courses and I hope you enjoy it whichever way you make it.

The butler


Joined: 22/06/2007
Posts: 1958

Message Posted:
25/10/2008 16:47

Hi joandjelly,



As I am a cook and lived in Italy for 6 years I have amassed a great many Italian cook books. I have gone through them all and excepting Antonio Callucio, they all use cream. I will continue to make it my way and long may you and Groucho enjoy it your way. I like my steak medium rare and my beef pink how do you like yours? I think we will put this to bed



The Butlers wife

no1doyen


Joined: 04/07/2008
Posts: 16617

Message Posted:
25/10/2008 17:02

Grouch, you should open a restaurant, I'd definately eat at your place ;)

neil27


Joined: 16/07/2008
Posts: 93

Message Posted:
25/10/2008 17:06

I have had the carbonara without cream in Italy and have to say I prefer my own as the one i had did seem more like scrambled eggs as I suggested. The addition of cream makes for an easier to prepare and, in my opinion, better tasting dish.