Carbonara Nytimes Food

SMOKY TOMATO CARBONARA

Steps:

• Bring a pot of salted water to a boil. Add pasta and cook according to package directions until al dente.
• Meanwhile, in a medium bowl, combine eggs and egg yolks, cheese, 1 teaspoon salt and 1/2 teaspoon pepper, and whisk well.
• Heat a large skillet over medium. Add bacon and cook, stirring occasionally, until starting to crisp, about 5 minutes. Pour off all but 3 tablespoons bacon grease (reserve any extra for another use). Add tomato paste and cook, stirring, until sizzling and starting to brown, about 1 minute. Add cherry tomatoes and cook, scraping up any browned bits, until softened and juices start to release, about 2 minutes. Remove skillet from heat.
• Drain pasta, reserving 1 cup pasta water. Return pasta to pot (off the heat) and add the bacon-tomato mixture. (If necessary, use 2 tablespoons of pasta water to stir up any browned bits on the bottom of the skillet.)
• While whisking constantly, slowly drizzle 1/2 cup of the hot pasta water into the beaten egg mixture until well blended. Slowly drizzle the tempered egg mixture into the pasta, tossing the pasta constantly and vigorously, until well incorporated and saucy. Season with salt and pepper. Drizzle in more pasta water if a thinner consistency is desired.
• Serve in bowls with more cheese and black pepper.

SPRINGTIME SPAGHETTI CARBONARA

Steps:

• Heat a sauté pan over medium heat and add the bacon, cooking for about 5 minutes, until crispy. Transfer the cooked bacon with a slotted spoon to a paper towel and set aside. Return the pan with the rendered fat to the stove top for future use.
• Bring a pot of salted water to a boil. Drop the peas into the water and cook them for 5 minutes. Transfer them to a strainer with a slotted spoon or a spider basket. Add the pasta to the boiling water and cook for 10 minutes, or until al dente.
• While the pasta cooks, heat the bacon fat in the sauté pan over medium heat. Add the peas and asparagus, and sauté for about 5 minutes. Remove from the heat, stir in the basil, and set aside.
• Whisk together the eggs and milk. Have the egg mixture, vegetables and bacon ready to toss with very hot pasta.
• Quickly drain the pasta and transfer immediately to a large serving bowl. Pour the eggs and cheese on top of the pasta, and toss vigorously to coat the strands and gently cook the eggs, forming a creamy sauce. Add the vegetables and bacon, and continue tossing to incorporate them. Season with salt and pepper to taste.
• Portion the spaghetti on plates and ladle any sauce left in the bowl over each serving. Grate additional cheese on top if you like.

THE BEST CARBONARA

Steps:

• Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil over high heat.
• Whisk together the eggs, yolks, Parmesan, Pecorino, pepper and butter if using in a large bowl until well combined.
• Add the pasta and cook as the label directs. Reserve 1 cup cooking water, then drain the pasta.
• Meanwhile, cook the pancetta in a large skillet over medium heat, stirring occasionally, until crisp, about 8 minutes. Add the spaghetti and half the reserved pasta cooking water to the skillet and toss to combine.
• Add the egg mixture and toss to coat. Cook, tossing continuously to avoid scrambling the eggs, until the sauce is creamy, thinning it with the remaining pasta water if it becomes too thick (it should be saucy but not watery), about 1 minute.
• Divide the pasta among plates and sprinkle with more grated Parmesan.

SPAGHETTI ALLA CARBONARA

Steps:

• Prepare the sauce while the pasta is cooking to ensure that the spaghetti will be hot and ready when the sauce is finished; it is very important that the pasta is hot when adding the egg mixture, so that the heat of the pasta cooks the raw eggs in the sauce.
• Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil, add the pasta and cook for 8 to 10 minutes or until tender yet firm (as they say in Italian "al dente.") Drain the pasta well, reserving 1/2 cup of the starchy cooking water to use in the sauce if you wish.
• Meanwhile, heat the olive oil in a deep skillet over medium flame. Add the pancetta and saute for about 3 minutes, until the bacon is crisp and the fat is rendered. Toss the garlic into the fat and saute for less than 1 minute to soften.
• Add the hot, drained spaghetti to the pan and toss for 2 minutes to coat the strands in the bacon fat. Beat the eggs and Parmesan together in a mixing bowl, stirring well to prevent lumps. Remove the pan from the heat and pour the egg/cheese mixture into the pasta, whisking quickly until the eggs thicken, but do not scramble (this is done off the heat to ensure this does not happen.) Thin out the sauce with a bit of the reserved pasta water, until it reaches desired consistency. Season the carbonara with several turns of freshly ground black pepper and taste for salt. Mound the spaghetti carbonara into warm serving bowls and garnish with chopped parsley. Pass more cheese around the table.

KIMCHI CARBONARA

Steps:

• In a large pot of salted water, cook pasta according to package directions until al dente. Before draining, reserve 1 cup pasta cooking water.
• Meanwhile, in a large deep skillet, melt the butter over medium heat, then add the shallot. Cook, stirring constantly, until translucent, 2 to 3 minutes. Add the garlic and ginger, and cook, stirring, until fragrant, about 1 minute more.
• Deglaze the skillet by adding the white wine and stirring to loosen any browned bits, and season with 2 teaspoons salt and the pepper. Let simmer until slightly reduced, about 1 minute.
• Slip the kimchi into the skillet and cook until the cabbage is slightly wilted, 1 to 2 minutes. Add the cooked pasta and toss well to coat.
• Once the pasta is incorporated, remove from the heat, add the kimchi juice, egg yolks and cheese, and toss vigorously to coat the pasta. If the pasta seems dry, add some reserved pasta cooking water. Divide among four bowls and top with the spinach, more Parmesan and a sprinkle of gochugaru.

BREAKFAST CARBONARA

Steps:

• Combine the orange zest, parsley and bread crumbs in a small bowl and set aside.
• Add 2 quarts of water, salt and linguine to a large sauté pan. Cover and bring to a boil over medium-high heat. Reduce the heat to low and cook for 4 minutes, or until the pasta is al dente.
• While the pasta is cooking, heat the oil in a 12-inch skillet, preferably cast-iron, over medium-high heat until it starts to shimmer. Add the sausage, breaking it into pieces with a spoon, and brown. Add the scallions and cook for a few minutes until fragrant.
• While the pasta and sausage cook, whisk together the eggs, cheese and pepper.
• Drain the pasta, reserving a 1/3 cup of the starchy water. Add the pasta to the sausage mixture, tossing well to coat.
• Remove from heat, add the egg mixture and toss some more, adding some pasta water to loosen the sauce.
• Serve immediately with a generous sprinkle of the parsley mixture.

ARTICHOKE CARBONARA

Steps:

• Bring a large pot of salted water to boil. Cook the pasta according to package instructions until al dente.
• While the pasta cooks, make the sauce: Cut the guanciale into 1/4-inch-thick slabs and then 1-inch-long strips. Add 2 tablespoons of olive oil to a large, deep skillet and heat over medium. Add the guanciale, reduce the heat to low and allow the guanciale to render until crisp, stirring occasionally, about 5 minutes. Remove the guanciale from the skillet and reserve. Remove 1 tablespoon of the guanciale drippings to a small bowl and set aside.
• Add the artichokes to the skillet and cook until warmed, stirring carefully so they do not break apart. Stir in the cooked guanciale.
• Add the egg yolks, the cheese, 1 teaspoon salt and a few grinds of pepper to the small bowl with the reserved guanciale drippings and stir until combined.
• Reserve 1 cup of pasta water, then, using tongs, transfer the cooked pasta to the skillet, mixing to incorporate with the artichokes and guanciale.
• While whisking, slowly drizzle 1/4 cup of the reserved pasta water into the egg mixture until combined.
• Remove the pasta from the heat and add the egg mixture, tossing vigorously to coat. Add more reserved pasta water incrementally until the sauce is smooth and creamy.
• Divide the pasta among bowls and top with more grated cheese. If desired, place a raw egg yolk on top of each pasta nest. Top with a sprinkle of salt and pepper, and a drizzle of olive oil to finish.

RAMEN CARBONARA

Steps:

• In a large skillet (preferably nonstick), cook bacon over medium heat until fat is rendered and meat is cooked through. Adjust the heat as needed to prevent scorching. When bacon is cooked, use a slotted spoon to transfer it to a paper-towel-lined plate. Set aside.
• Pour off the extra bacon fat in the pan, leaving behind any browned bits stuck on the bottom. Return pan to medium-high heat and add boiling water, butter and half the cheese. Stir, scraping up bacon bits, and bring to a boil. Add noodle blocks and boil, gently separating the strands as they soften, until noodles are almost cooked through, about 3 minutes. The noodles will absorb some of the liquid, and there will be a thick broth in the pan. Keep the heat high; you want most of the liquid to evaporate.
• Reduce heat to low. Add whisked eggs, stir into noodles very well, and cook, stirring constantly and scraping the bottom of the pan, about 1 minute. The sauce should remain quite runny; the eggs will continue to cook after you remove them from the heat. Mix in cooked bacon, remaining cheese and plenty of black pepper and immediately remove from the heat.
• Scrape mixture into 2 large serving bowls. If not making fried eggs, serve immediately, grinding pepper over the top of each bowl.
• If making fried eggs, cover the noodle bowls to keep them warm. Return empty pan to medium heat, add a lump of butter, and swirl until melted and foaming. Crack the eggs into the pan and fry until yolks are just set and edges are brown, about 3 minutes. Transfer to noodle bowls, grind on more pepper, and serve immediately.