Sauces: Carbonara

Spaghetti Carbonara is a relatively recent addition to Italian cuisine. The sauce varies regionally within Italy as well as by country, and the pasta isn’t firmly traditional either.

Apparently the original sauce was made with guanciale, black pepper, pecorino romano, and eggs. Pancetta and bacon are commonly substituted for the guanciale, and parmigiano-reggiano for the pecorino (or in combination with it). Sometimes it’s made with cream instead of or in addition to egg yolks. Peas, broccoli, or other vegetables might be added for color. The pasta can be just about anything, with various regions claiming their own preferred pasta as the “only” acceptable one.

First, I made some fettuccine. Then, before starting the sauce, I put a pot of heavily salted water on to bring it to the rolling boil needed for cooking pasta.

I made the carbonara sauce by first cutting some lardons from a recent batch of bacon. Because the bacon is less fatty than mass-produced bacon seems to be, I used extra virgin olive oil in the fry pan to avoid sticking when I crisped the lardons.

Once the bacon had rendered some of its fat, I added diced onion, and then two cloves of garlic, minced. When the onion became translucent, I added a pint of heavy cream and reduced the heat to a simmer.

While the cream reduced, I grated some pecorino romano and parmigiano-reggiano, reserving some of the parmigiano-reggiano to sprinkle on top as a garnish. Then I added the cheeses and some freshly ground black pepper to the cream reduction and stirred until the cheeses were fully incorporated.

When the sauce was ready, I cooked the pasta and added it to the fry pan without draining it dry. A gentle stir of the pasta and sauce and it was ready to serve.

Notice, please, that I didn’t add any salt at all, except to the pasta cooking water. Some of that water migrated to the fry pan with the pasta, which both seasoned and thinned the sauce. Cheeses are also salty, so be very careful about adding any salt to whatever sauce you’re making.

If I had made a more traditional carbonara sauce, I would have left out the cream. Instead, I would have added one raw egg yolk per serving to the pasta in the fry pan along with plenty of freshly cracked black pepper. The residual heat of the pasta is enough to cook the yolks when you toss the pasta.

Technique: Egg Pasta Dough

I have home-cured bacon. How can I not make a carbonara sauce? But first, I need some pasta to put it on.

If you’ve never made egg pasta, it really isn’t as hard as you might think. It may not be as easy as Mario Batali makes it look on Iron Chef America, but it’s easy nonetheless.

The recipe is about as simple as it can get: one egg and ½ cup of flour per portion. I find it’s best to add a portion for the table, so if you have four for dinner, make five portions. That way you have an abundance.

You can make it in a bowl if you wish, or mix it with a mixer. I prefer to use a fork and just make a mess on the counter since the counter is going to get messy anyway.

The type of flour isn’t particularly critical. All purpose flour makes excellent pasta, as does any other flour. My preference is about 1 part semolina flour to 2 parts all purpose flour. Semolina flour makes pasta nicely toothy, but too much semolina is really hard to work unless you’re using a high-power pasta machine. Many dried pastas are made with 100% semolina flour.

To roll out the dough, I generally use the Kitchen Aid pasta roller set. Manual pasta machines work well, but you need to be able to clamp them to the table or counter or you’ll never be able to roll out your pasta. You can also roll out the dough by hand, but be prepared for some serious rolling time.

To get started, roughly measure the flour. Honestly, if you’re close, you’re just fine. No precision required here. Then add the eggs.

Start breaking up the eggs with a fork, and pull in flour from the edges until you realize that you aren’t making any more progress. Then clean off the fork and knead the dough by hand until it all comes together and you can form a nice ball of pasta dough. It’ll feel a bit rough. Cover that ball and let it rest for at least fifteen minutes. If you want to let it rest longer, use a damp towel to cover it.

When you’re ready to roll the dough, divide it into whatever number of finished portions you’re making. Using one portion at a time, roll it out.

The first pass through the pasta machine doesn’t seem to do much, but that’s okay. Just use flour liberally, keep folding the dough into thirds or quarters, and pass it through the rollers again.

After several passes through the rollers the texture and color will change. The dough becomes lighter in color and begins to feel silky. That’s when you start to adjust the setting on the roller to make the pasta thinner. With the Kitchen Aid attachment I generally get to 5. The same setting on a manual machine isn’t as thin, but it’s about as thin as I ever manage to get the dough.

The goal is to be able to see your hand through the dough. Sometimes it tears. If it does, just fold it up, back the roller up one setting, and continue rolling. If the pasta feels a bit sticky, dust it with flour.

When you’re satisfied that your dough is silky smooth and pale enough, it’s time to cut or shape it. The sheets you’re making are perfect for lasagna, ravioli, or even tortellini.

If you cut the pasta you’ll want to hang it somewhere to let it dry a bit. Those handy bars around counters that you thought were for towels are actually built-in pasta dryers! Be sure to clean and flour them liberally.

There are two things I’ve never seen explained in pasta recipes that can cause disasters. The first is that cut pasta can re-fuse itself if you don’t separate the strands rather quickly and flour them liberally; the resulting lump can be unpleasant. The second is that you really only want to let it dry a few minutes before moving it from the drying rack to a sheet pan. If you happily let the pasta hang on that handy rack it will shatter when you try to get it off and put it in the pot. Trust me, I’ve done it. The best flour for dusting the finished pasta is white rice flour, but all purpose flour works fine.

When you’re ready to cook the pasta, be prepared because it cooks much faster than dried pasta. You should salt the water to the point that it tastes like the Mediterranean Sea, but never use oil. Also, the water must be at a rolling boil and the pot must be large.

Add one portion of pasta to the water. As soon as it floats to the surface it’s done. Very thin pastas can cook in 30 seconds; the fettuccine made for this post took about 2 minutes. Use tongs to pull it out, or if you have one, cook it in a pasta basket.

Once you’ve made fresh egg pasta you’ll be reluctant to buy dried pasta again, and you’ll find that most “fresh” pasta you can buy just doesn’t measure up. There’s a bit of investment to get going, but you will not regret it once you’ve tasted your first homemade pasta.

Mushroom Frittata

Puffball, Maitake, Shiitake

The primary mushroom vendor at the Portland Farmers Market had a nice selection this weekend. A friend decided I should make something with Puffball, Maitake, and Shiitake mushrooms, so she handed me a bag when I arrived at her house. “Use these for supper,” she said, and asked if we needed to go shopping. “Do you have eggs and salad greens?” She nodded.

A frittata is always quick and easy and is a great way to use up leftovers. All you need is eggs. Potatoes are a traditional filler, and cheese is the most common topping. My home creamery additions included fresh butter and crème fraîche; from the pantry I added sweet onion marmalade, garlic confit, and extra virgin olive oil flavored with rosemary and pink peppercorns. A quick trip to my friend’s recently planted garden yielded a couple of sage leaves and a few chives. A nice spring onion from the Farmers Market rounded out the ingredients.

First, a sauce. To crème fraîche I added snipped chives, several mashed cloves of garlic confit, and some Bali sea salt smoked with cinnamon. Making a simple topping like this before preparing the main dish allows time for the flavors to marry.

For the frittata, I first browned some butter with sage leaves, then added the rosemary-pink peppercorn olive oil and sautéed the chopped mushrooms.  When the mushrooms were about ready to give up their water, I added thinly sliced potato–not too much–and diced spring onion. After a couple of minutes I deglazed the pan with some white wine and covered to steam the potatoes for about five minutes. Meanwhile, I readied the broiler.

When the potatoes were ready, I added a bit more olive oil–no nonstick pan for this dish–then added five room-temperature eggs, lowered the temperature to medium low, and stirred just enough to mix everything well. I spooned some sweet onion marmalade on top, then I patiently waited.

Once the bottom was set I sprinkled some grated parmigiano reggiano on top and put the pan under the broiler, which is why no nonstick pan. As the frittata finished under the broiler I quickly made a balsamic vinaigrette (3:1) for the greens. The finished frittata was dressed with a generous dollop of garlic-chive crème fraîche.

Mushroom Frittata