Adapted from The Romagnolis’ Table by Margaret and G. Franco Romagnoli,
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with my own method for safer eggs and creamier sauce. Jump to Recipe
We get our eggs from the neighbors over the back fence. For a couple of months supplies have been low, but they texted me yesterday to say that the chickens have decided that spring is here and would I (please?) like some eggs?
Heck yeah, I want eggs! Aren’t they pretty?
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You may notice these eggs are unwashed. That is because I brought them straight in and took a picture. Also, did you know that eggs will keep at room temperature for up to a month as long as you don’t wash them? I keep them away from other food, and wash them before I crack them.
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To celebrate egg season, and because I have this amazing applewood bacon from my local butcher, I decided to make Spaghetti Carbonara for dinner. This is a great weeknight meal. It’s quick to put together and doesn’t take a lot of specialty ingredients. Most of the time when I don’t want to cook and I don’t have anything in the fridge, I’ve still got dry spaghetti, a couple of eggs, and some bacon even if it’s in the freezer.
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Most Carbonara recipes, including the one from my 1975 copy of The Romagnolis’ Table that my mom was nice enough to let me steal from her kitchen, tell you to crack the eggs in a bowl, beat them, and then dump the hot spaghetti on top of them and toss them around to cook. That is the correct and traditional way to make this dish. However, when my kids were little and I was a nervous mom, I hit upon a way of bringing the eggs up to a safe temperature before putting the dish together. This is similar to what you would do to make custard or hollandaise, and it makes a smooth and creamy sauce for the pasta.
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Smooth and Creamy Spaghetti Carbonara With SafeR Eggs
This is a very simple recipe that will showcase the ingredients that you choose to use. I recommend spoiling yourself by sourcing high quality peppercorns, bacon or pork belly, fresh farm eggs, and pasta. Grate your own parmesan. You will be able to tell the difference here.
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Ingredients
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- 3 large (or 4 medium) eggs
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- 4 slices pork belly (not smoked) or bacon (smoked)
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- 3 Tablespoons Olive Oil. Use your cooking olive oil here.
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- Freshly ground black pepper
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- Salt for your spaghetti water
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- Spaghetti
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- Parmesan cheese (optional)
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Tools
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- Sharp knife and cutting board
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- Large pasta cooking pot
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- Bowl that will rest on top of the pasta cooking pot without dipping into the water
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- Wire whisk
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- Instant read thermometer
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- Saute pan
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- Wire strainer
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- Glass quart measuring cup or small bowl
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- Tongs or some other utensil to scoop spaghetti out of the hot water
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- A clean bowl in the dish warmer for serving, if you’re fancy
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Directions
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Timing is crucial for this recipe, so read through and make sure that you are setting up your mise en place before you start cooking.
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Basically, you’re going to whisk your eggs over the pasta water as it is heating, and while your bacon is rendering out its fat. Then you will drizzle the oil into the eggs while whisking. At this point you can focus on cooking the spaghetti, and then you will toss it all together at the end.
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Prep the Bacon:
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Cut up your bacon into small pieces. How small is up to you, but I like them small enough to stick to the pasta, not creating a second texture.
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Set up your Pasta Water and Egg Bowl
Figure out how much water you can put in your pot without dipping the bottom of the bowl into it. Salt the water until it “tastes like the sea.”
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IMPORTANT: Take a look at the depth of the water at this point. It will evaporate, and before you cook your pasta you will need to top it off. If you don’t, your dish will be unbearably salty.
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Start your bacon
OK, here we go.
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- Put your saute pan on the burner next to your pasta water where you can keep an eye on things while you’re whisking.
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- Turn the pan on low (bacon renders at 250 degrees F), and put in the olive oil and the bacon. Grind a whole bunch of pepper on top, and spread it out in the pan.
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- The goal for the bacon is to allow it to very gently render all of its fat, leaving you with little bacon bits. You do not want to have to worry about it burning, so keep it very very low.
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Crack your Eggs
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- Crack your eggs into your bowl, make sure your instant read thermometer, whisk, and potholder are within reach, and turn the water on medium.
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- Hold on to your bowl, and start whisking your eggs. At first you don’t have to worry too much, but once that water heats up you need to manage this with all of your attention.
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- Whisk constantly as the water heats. Keep the water to a simmer for now, don’t let it boil. If it boils, your eggs will go too fast, and hot steam will come around the side of the bowl and burn you.
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- Remember that the bowl will be hotter than the eggs, and any egg that sticks to the side will cook. Use the whisk to scrape the edges where the eggs splash up. You can slow down the process by moving the bowl off of the pan, but you have to keep whisking as the cools down a bit. Use a rubber spatula to clean down the sides, and then put the bowl back on. It’s a dance! Enjoy it.
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- Use your instant read thermometer to give your eggs a quick temp check now and then. Maybe practice when the eggs are cooler, because you have to go fast while continuing to whisk as you get closer to temp.
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- You are aiming for a temp reading of 160 degrees. When you get there, pull the bowl off the water and keep whisking until it cools down enough to stop cooking. Then you can relax.
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- Grind some more pepper in there. Yes, there is pepper with the bacon. Give it more! You’ll get more of the delicate floral aromatics.
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Turns out it is really hard to take pictures when you’re whisking eggs over hot water!
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back to the Bacon
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Check on the bacon now that the eggs can rest. It should look like this:
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As long as it isn’t in danger of getting too hot, take a minute to top off your pasta water and turn up the heat so that it will start boiling.
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Strain the bacon
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Put a wire mesh strainer over the top of a glass quart measure or bowl, anything you can pour from one handed while whisking, and strain the oil through it, catching the bacon bits.
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Set the bacon bits and the saute pan aside, make sure the burner is turned off underneath. It can stay warm, but it shouldn’t be on the heat.
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Whisk the Bacon Fat into the Eggs
I wasn’t able to get a picture of this because I needed both hands. Whisk with one hand while drizzling the bacon fat with the other hand. Whisk until it is all combined.
It’s foamy and thick and looks like Hollandaise.
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Finish the dish
While the spaghetti is cooking, it’s a good time to grate your parmesan.
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- Cook your spaghetti al dente. It will finish cooking a little as you mix it all together.
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- Scoop the spaghetti out of the water and put it into the warm not hot bacon pan. Tongs work, or a wire strainer, or you can pour it into a colander if you catch the water instead of letting it go down the drain.
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- Put some of the pasta cooking water on the spaghetti, maybe 1/4-1/2 cup to start. Add the bacon bits and the egg mixture, scraping the bowl. Sprinkle on the parmesan. (If you are serving this to guests, you will want to retire this bowl and have a clean one ready.)
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- Mix the spaghetti gently to coat, and add a bit more pasta water if it is too dry for you.
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- Move everything back into the bowl and toss it a bit more just to make sure it is even. If you are using a fresh bowl, make sure it isn’t over-heated. You should be able to touch it comfortably.
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Serve!
This dish does not hold very well so eat it right away. You’ll probably want a salad to go with, because it is very rich.
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Did you try it?
Let us know what you think! We’d love to see pictures and hear about your results.
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