Monday, July 27, 2009 - Pasta Carbonara

I love to use the ingredients I already have on hand, with maybe a quick trip to the store if needed. I had everything on hand for Pasta Carbonara, but I wanted to experiment with a different pasta instead of the traditional angel hair pasta, so I bought some Barilla mini farfalle. When I was in Italy a year and a half ago, I was amazed at all the Barilla products in the grocery stores there. Now I try to only buy Barilla.
Anyway, the menu was:
Pasta Carbonara (recipe follows)
Mixed Green Salad (red and green leaf lettuce, chopped scallions, diced cucumber & tomatoes)
Garlic Bread (New York brand Texas Toast)

Pasta Carbonara (4 servings)

1 Tbsp canola oil
5 slices bacon, halved lengthwise and diced into 1/4 inch pieces
8 rounds Jones ham (10 in a pack, about 1/8" thick each) (You could easily substitute a ham steak or some deli ham - you will need about 1 & 1/2 cups of finely diced ham)
12 scallions, sliced about 1/8" thick , green and white separated
3 cloves garlic, minced
6 eggs (only use 4 of the yolks)
1/2 to 3/4 cup grated parmesan cheese
1/4 cup light cream
1 tsp coarsely ground black pepper
1/4 cup chopped fresh parsley
1 box Barilla Mini Farfalle

Start boiling the water for the pasta. At the same time, in high-sided saute pan, saute bacon with the canola oil over medium-high heat. Once bacon has begun to brown and become crisp, turn heat down to medium and add the diced ham. Saute for a minute or two, then add the white parts of the scallions and the garlic. Saute for 1-2 more minutes, stirring, until the onion becomes translucent. Remove from heat, stir in the green part of the scallions, and set aside in pan.
Begin cooking pasta according to directions on box for "al dente". While pasta is cooking, beat the eggs in a bowl with a hand mixer, starting on low speed and increasing to high, until volume doubles (about 3-4 minutes).
Once pasta is done, drain in a colander and add to the ham mixture in the saute pan. Return the pan to medium heat and bring it back up to a hot temperature. Then, turn off the heat and alternately add about half of the eggs and half of the parmesan cheese, folding together with a wooden spoon or heat-proof spatula. Once that has been incorporated, add the remaining eggs, cheese, and cream and fold in. Add the pepper and parsley and serve immediately.

This worked really well with this pasta - every bite had some of the pasta, ham, bacon and onion!