Pasta&Co.

After lots of summer fun in Japan and Hawai’i we are finally home! I kinda had (maybe) a lemon and an onion in the fridge (LOL) so I went grocery shopping at the store nearby. I found a whole bunch of new Italian items. Incredibly enough, I found Del Verde Pasta (spinach tagliatelle, rotini and even dry lasagne pasta!) and La Molisana Spaghetti alla Chitarra!

Spaghetti alla Chitarra (guitar spaghetti), known also as Troccoli in the Puglia Region, is a typical pasta from Abruzzo made with an egg dough and a tool called chitarra. This is a multi-stringed rectangular wooden tool with metal wires across the top.

I saw the package, and the idea of cooking these spaghetti Carbonara style

Carbonara is one of the Italian most famous pasta, prepared with bacon, raw eggs, Parmigiano and Pecorino. It belongs to the 15-minute pasta recipes and it’s delicious!

Ingredients for Spaghetti alla Carbonara

2 people

• 2 oz of guanciale, pancetta, or organic bacon*
• 5 oz of spaghetti (dry pasta)
• 1 extra large egg – pastured
• 1/2 cup of freshly grated Pecorino Romano, plus more for serving*
• Black pepper, freshly grounded

*Many years abroad made me flexible in my choices. Use what you find and don’t give up making Carbonara because you do not have one or two ingredients. Pancetta will be sweeter, bacon will be smokier, guanciale is just what you want – it has the right fat and savoriness, but it’s not always easy to find. Same for Pecorino Romano – it’s pretty widespread nowadays, but also Parmigiano or Grana will do; however, you’ll find that Pecorino possesses a deeper saltiness able to exalt/complement the complexity of this dish.

Instructions

1. Fill a pot 2/3 of the way with lightly salted water and bring it to boil.
2. In a skillet, add the pancetta and sauté for about 5/6 minutes, until the meat is crisp and the fat is rendered. Remove from the heat and set aside (do not drain the fat).
3. In a mixing bowl, beat the eggs. Whisk in Pecorino and Parmigiano until smooth.
4. Cook the spaghetti in the boiling water until just al dente. 
5. Place the skillet with the pancetta over low heat. With a spaghetti server, drain half of the pasta into the skillet, add in the egg mixture and cover with the other half. Stir with tongs until you see a creamy consistency. This procedure, together with the heat of the pasta, will allow raw eggs to cook without scramble. Add freshly grounded pepper to taste, toss, serve and die happy.