Spaghetti Alla Carbonara

Recently a friend of my wife asked about spaghetti alla Carbonara.  Her husband who had been in the Military, stationed in Italy, began to eat this dish there and became a fan.  Well what can you do about it?  La Carbonara is one of the great culinary inventions.  The roots of this dish are many but one makes sense.  Many claim, and I have no reason to doubt them, that the name Carbonara comes from the obvious name "Coal Woman".  Carbone is Coal.  The ending -ara in carbon-ara denotes a trade but in the feminine.  If it were a male it would be aro or "Carbon-aro".  Anyway a Coal Woman, a woman who would trade in coal, would often times be seen picking coal where it had been dropped by the transport vehicle (a cart or a Train).  The fact was that a woman, who dealt in this trade, was poor...and probably a widow.  The ingredients denote poverty.  Eggs were the sign of the poor. Always readily available, nutritious and cheap to get.  If you owned a chicken they were “free”.  Whatever the real story is the Carbonara it is a great dish.  Simple, delicious, easy to make and inexpensive.  It is the tetrapharmacon of cuisine.

The Talismano’s recipe is the traditional one.  Today in Italy some do add cream.  It does add a bit of moisture and the egg does not clump up as much.  Some instead use a little pasta water instead.  Both options are good, for American tastes.  For some reason we seem to have been brought up with the idea that pasta must be buried in a sauce.  I will place it in the “optional” category.

Please read all before cooking.  You need to plan ahead.

Spaghetti Alla Carbonara

For 6 People

600g of Spaghetti (1.6 lbs of spaghetti or one bag and a quarter)

3 Eggs

200g of Pancetta (1/2 pound) (Salt pork)

30g of Butter (1.5 oz)

30g of Olive Oil (1.5 oz) (Always Extra Virgin)

50g Half cup of ground Parmigiano (1.8 oz) (Ada Boni’s Talismano permits Pecorino, I do not)

(Optional 1) ¼ cup of heavy cream

(Optional 2) ¼ cup of Pasta Water

Salt

Black Pepper

Beat and mix in a bowl the eggs, add the Parmigiano (Parmesan), and a teaspoon of Black Pepper. Here you may use option (1) one and add a little cream.  Option (2) two the pasta water would not be appropriate at all.  It would destroy your recipe.

Cut the pancetta in tiny squares less than a ¼ inch in size.  Please very tiny.  Do not omit the fat.

Fry them in the olive oil and butter at low heat.  Once nicely browned allow to cool.  Here is where I diverge from the Talismano.  Boni tells you to add the Pancetta to the eggs and Parmesan…I do not.  You will add them directly to the pasta.  Cook the pasta in well-salted water.  Once cooked remove the pasta from the water (option 2 [adding the pasta water] may be used here, but not if you have used option 1 already), add the pancetta with all the oil and then immediately add the egg/parmigiano/pepper mix also.  Remember to do this immediately.  The hot pasta has to cook the eggs.  Mix everything together slowly but well using a couple of forks.  Serve immediately.

Buona Sera

Ossobuco Alla Milanese

Ossobuco Alla Milanese is obviously a dish from Milan.  It means “Bone Hole”. As many Northern Italian dishes go Olive Oil is often lacking.  By North I mean north of the river Po.  Obviously Tuscany is a northern province, but they use olive oil in their cuisine.  Milan is in Lombardy.  There Butter is king, just like French cuisine.  In this recipe butter will be used.

Ossobuco Alla Milanese

For 6 people

6 Ossobuco

150g of Butter

Water

Flour

One Glass of White Wine

Parsley

Lemon Zest

2 Garlic cloves

2 Anchovies (Used as a spice…never omit)

Beef Broth

Salt

Pepper

Ossobuco Is the Veal Shank (fleshy) with the bone and marrow attached.  Difficult to find, and because of that I often buy Beef Shank.  Since it is not commonly used by Americans except for making broth you should be able to find it for fewer than three dollars a pound.

Place half the butter requested in a pan with fairly high sides (you will need this when you add the broth and wine).  Make sure that you have a series of tiny cuts on the end of the Ossobuco.  This will keep it from curling up in case there is a little connective tissue on the meat.

Place them in flour and at moderate heat braze the meat.  Remember Butter can burn so not so high.

Once you reach a dark blond color salt and pepper them.

Pour the wine in, a glass if I remember correctly and once all evaporated cover them with water all the way up until it just covers the Ossobuco. Cover and let cook for one hour or there about on low heat.

Once done that you will find that the water has partially evaporated.

Take the anchovy, the lemon zest, the parsley, and the two garlic cloves and crush them (mash then all in a mortar and pestle).  Add to the mixture and add some broth.  A half-cup of broth should suffice and cook an additional five minutes making sure you deglaze the bottom of the pan with the broth.  Add some additional fresh butter and serve with Risotto Alla Milanese…Ok, maybe not now.  Just some hot buttered rice with a little Parmigiano will do.  Next week Risotto Alla Milanese!

Buona Sera

Trouble Cooking Anything?

By now if you have cooked some of these recipes you probably have had a problem with some.  Cooking is an art form not a mathematical science.  As mentioned earlier measurements are good for baking but not good for cooking food.  The problem, as earlier stated on this blog, is that all things of the same thing are organic and may have different properties.  Do not become discouraged.  When learning from reading only it is more difficult.
The secret is to persevere.  Trust your judgement.  If, for example the gnocchi you made are falling apart you may have used too little flour or too few eggs (if you used a recipe that requires eggs).  If the gnocchi are too rubbery you may have used too much flour or too many eggs (and sometimes a potato that is not crumbly and dry).  The secret is to be aware of your ingredients, to know what your process was and how to enhance one trait.  Remember it may take you two to three times with a recipe to get it right.  This is very common.  A good Chef perseveres, and so should you.  Remember to try and try again.
Buona Sera.