Spaghetti Carbonara

This is the real deal. And it was my last fresh cooked meal for the next couple of days. I am having a carpal tunnel operation on my left hand. 

This dish has no cream or panchetta in it. A mixture of Pecorino romano and Parmesan and lots of black pepper went in with the eggs. I bought a chunk of Guanciale. That is the cured and peppery cheek from a pig.

I wanted to prepare it in the Roman way. It took some checking of different cooking videos. 

Spaghettinos with a rougher surface area are better to combine with the sauce. But they have a longer cooking time then regular spaghetti. The cooking water needs a lot of salt. 

1-10-100  = one litre water, 10 g salt, 100 g pasta.

I cooked the spaghetti and cut the Guanciale in 2 cm cubes. The cubes went in a cold pan and went up to high heat. The grease that comes out is poured in a small bowl. 1 tsp of it goes in the egg/cheese mix.

The 2 eggs and 1 egg yolk get mixed in with the 2 cheeses. The grease makes it even richer. Ground a good amount of  black pepper in the mix.

To loosen it a bit, I kept the bowl over the boiling pasta water and stirred it constantly. Do not cook the eggs. That makes it easier to emulsify the sauce later.

Take your tongs and get the al dente spaghettino in the pan with the guanciale. Stir well. Take the pan off the heat an stir in the egg/cheese/pepper mix. Add more cooking water to the pan as you stir.

Take a soup ladle and turn some pasta with tongs in it and set it on a warmed  serving plate, place sauce and guanciale on top. Finish with a bit more Pecorino romano.

Spaghetti Carbonara

The Italian classic. Well but still my way.

After work I was hungry. Before cooking I watched Chef Stefan Marquard @ home ungeschminkt und ungeschnitten.

Over the last couple of weeks in lockdown he cooked from his kitchen at home and his son filmed the videos for YT. Very easy adeptable recipes with good quality ingredients. My kind of cooking.

He has a special style that is unique his own. Hairy Biker style. He is a Chef with a background as a butcher. He knows his meat!

He cooks all kinds of pasta in very little water, just a slice of fresh ginger and some salt added. Today I cooked 250 g of spaghetti in 500 ml of water. Because I needed water for the carbonara later. But you can cook 500 g of spaghetti or any other pasta in 250 ml of water. Bring to a boil, put the pasta in completely. It takes a short time for spaghetti to get in. Then close the lid and reduce the heat to a low simmer. Cook until al dente.
AMAZING

Recipe for 2:
250 g spaghetti
2 slices of ginger
2 egg yolks
1 egg
120 g bacon or Guanciale
40 g pecorino
Olive oil
Parsley

The bacon goes in the pan in a bit of olive oil. Just on medium high heat. It should not get crispy.
Beat the egg with the egg yolk with some pepper and grate most of the pecorino in.
When the pasta us done, use some of the cooking water to loosen the egg cheese mix. Stir very well, otherwise you will fet scrambled eggs.
Take the spaghetti with tongs from the pot into the pan with some starchy water.
Get the pan off the heat and pour the mix on top. Toss it well and get it back on the stirring constantly.
Serve with some parsley and more cheese on top.