Penne Carbonara
Who doesn’t love carbonara? It’s on virtually everyone’s (everyone I know at least) list of comfort food and there’s a reason why it’s there. Because it’s bloody good. Period.
And what I love so much about it is that it’s quite so easy to make and you don’t really have to fuss about with a recipe at all for this one. It’s pretty much turned into a sort of mantra in my head - 1 egg yolk, 20ml cream and good grab of parmesan per person for the sauce. Seriously easy. The cooking process is a bit tricky as you need to be coordinated and quick or something might go wrong. Frankly speaking, I wasn’t quite quick enough this time as I was texting on the phone and cooking at the same time which you should absolutely not be doing when making carbonara. Hence, my carbonara was a little overcooked and the sauce got a little egg-cooked. Another reason why the sauce ain’t as glossy as it should be! Tasted wicked nonetheless.
I don’t suppose this is the most authentic carbonara dish. And I certainly have never ordered this in a restaurant where they’ve served fresh thyme (it usually is just a creamy calorific mess on a plate) with it but I just love the flavour of fresh thyme, especially with anything pork. Also, thyme is said to aid the digestion of fat so not only does it give this dish another dimension of flavour, it helps cut through all that bacon and cream fat! Score.
The weather’s been pretty dreadful lately. It’s the beginning of winter and so the grey’s here. It’s wet, it’s starting to get really cold; at least, I noticed it more when I was further up north this week. And when it starts to get like this, all I want is something filling, creamy, hot and delicious. This has been in the making for quite some time now and after twittering with Bossacafez about carbonara and pasta alla vodka, it was time to put some work aside, cook myself a proper meal, let the hair down, put my feet up and damn well eat myself happy in front of the TV for a couple of solid episodes of Friends.
And here we have it. One smooth operator. It always goes down so well and chases any chills and blues away. Yummy.
If you want a recipe with instructions, I recommend using Jamie’s as it’s one of the easiest I’ve come across thus far. It’s a Courgette Carbonara recipe but it’s just Jamie’s little twist on the original. Click here for his recipe. Or you can simply remember these proportions per serving (I noted this down when I was watching one of Jamie’s cooking shows on TV and he pretty much cooked it all by eye and to taste. Hence, the estimates in measurements for the ingredients):
Penne Carbonara
Ingredients according to 1 serving
- 1 serving penne pasta
2-3 slices smoked bacon/pancetta, sliced or cubed
1 large egg yolk
20-30ml double cream (I have used single cream as I’m slightly lactose intolerant)
heaped 1/4 cup freshly grated parmigiano reggiano
1 tsp fresh thyme leaves, chopped
olive oil, for cooking
some pasta cooking liquid
sea salt and cracked black pepper
This is really straightforward to make and not rocket science. But it does require your full attention as a little distraction can cause you to burn the pasta or carbonara sauce, etc. Cook the pasta and have all other ingredients prepared and ready to go into the frying pan. Use a large frying pan as you’ll need quite a bit of space to toss the pasta.
In a mixing bowl, mix the egg yolks with the cream and parmesan cheese. Season with salt and pepper.
Once the pasta is nearly al dente, heat some olive oil in the pan and fry the bacon til just about golden brown. Once pasta is cooked, drain but don’t forget to save about 1/4 - 1/2 cup cooking liquid. Immediately pour the drained pasta into the cooking bacon.
Toss. Toss. Add the yolk cream mixture. If too dry, add a little of the cooking liquid. Toss toss real quick. At this point, you should have turned the heat down to low as you don’t want to burn or cook the carbonara sauce much. Keep moving the pasta so it coats everything nice and glossy. Season if need. Add the herbs and toss.
Remove from heat quickly and serve (with a generous sprinkling of parmesan if you like).
So, it’s that easy. You just gotta be alert and quick.
What’s your favourite or ultimate comfort food?
November 6th, 2009 at 10:26 pm
omg it looks darn good alright! seems like its not such a bad idea to stay-in for some home cooking :p i’m gonna make it soon too, will keep u posted on my virgin attempt
November 8th, 2009 at 4:40 am
I make something similar, but skip the egg. I’m going to try adding thyme.. great idea!
November 9th, 2009 at 9:48 am
Awww I love carbonara, haven’t had it in forever. I like to put a splash of white wine in the pan that I’m frying the bacon in. My favourite comfort food is anything, really…I just love food. But I find pasta to be especially comforting
November 9th, 2009 at 11:10 am
Evan: homecooking is definitely comfort food to the max huh. the idea of staying in. we are such lazy bums! yes lemme know how it goes. gdluck! i’m sure you’ll be great
Zuzu: cheers for visitin the blog
if you skip the egg, how do you get the carbonara sauce to remain fairly creamy and thick? do you use double cream instead?
Laura @ Hungry and Frozen: i was thinking of doing that! definitely love using white wine in cooking. ahhh, yuo’re giving me ideas now. cheers hun. totally agree with you on the pasta side - especially if it’s filled ones like ravioli, tortellini or really thick egg pasta like tagliatelle.. mmmm
xx
November 9th, 2009 at 1:57 pm
Love cabonara pasta but really have to watch out on eating too much of it. Strangely enough my husband made penne yesterday but with a tomato based sauce.
November 10th, 2009 at 1:07 pm
I hardly make carbonara pasta. Yours looks so lovely, maybe I need to make it more often
November 10th, 2009 at 1:17 pm
MMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMM,…your carbonara looks perfect! I eat it with soy cream instead of real cream then it is more lighter!
My comfort food is a fall chicken stew with parsnip & potato mash!
November 10th, 2009 at 2:33 pm
jo: it’s true. i hardly eat carbonara as it upsets my tummy a little being lactose intolerant but treating myself now and again is a wonderful luxury i always look forward to!
calorific but aren’t all food that is so, just simply delicious?
Sunita: not too often though! everyone always tells me how bad for the heart is it LOL
Sophie: it iiiissss yummy. soy cream? oh i’ve never seen any of that around here! love how people have been changing the usual carbonara to suit their tastes and diets. i love that - carbonara is one flexible dish!
mmm. parsnip and mash with a stew is wonderful! we usually have that with a beef stew on a cold rainy day. lush! actually i could have some of that now. it’s cold here at 7d Celsius!
xx
November 10th, 2009 at 6:40 pm
If you are lactose intolerant and if you care about the calories/fat, here is good news: the original, authentic carbonara recipe from Rome, Italy does not have any cream in it! All these “carbonara” recipes make us crazy - there is no cream in carbonara!!!!!!
November 10th, 2009 at 8:27 pm
i’m a lactard so i’m going to have to come up with another version of this wonderful comfort dish.
my fave comfort foods are hearty and rustic: beef stew, chicken pot pie, lasagna etc. but down home vietnamese food is what comforts me: pho, com ga (hianese chicken & rice), etc.
November 11th, 2009 at 9:20 pm
My son would totally love this. So comfy food.
November 12th, 2009 at 1:31 am
This looks really good! Looks easy for me to pick it up and cook it! BF’s Favourite dish! Shall try it out!
This is definitely one of the those that makes it to my comfort food list!
November 12th, 2009 at 1:26 pm
Penne pasta is the BEST, it absorbs all the lush sauce, and my goodness darling, that photo looks scrumptious… oh wow..
I wanted to let you know I will be moving soon, and changing my blog, I have a few jealous.. I guess.. (can’t figure out what other reason) hater (I think I know who it is) but got so bad I may have to change my domain and move my blog…
I’ll send you an e-mail or come here to give you the new addy = )
November 18th, 2009 at 8:51 am
Hey Dav! How can I get the pasta cooking liquid? Or rather, where can I get it from?