Pasta Carbonara

This is so delicious, so simple, and so readily available it often goes through weeks or months-long phases where it is in high rotation. One may use duck bacon, as I did almost exclusively in this recipe for about a year and a half, which results in a more silken, velvety texture. This, like many iconic dishes, can be made successfully many dozens of ways, and each enthusiast probably has his or her own methodology; this is mine.

I only use egg yolks and discard the whites, which to me yields the most ideal texture. These yolks conspire with touch of water, the highest quality cheese, and the bacon fat itself to create all the creaminess I need. Many restaurants serve this dish with the addition of cream, which sort of stabilizes the “sauce”. To my mind it is hardly necessary. If you follow these directions exactly, you will not need anything of the sort. Some prefer the flavor when cream has been added, others consider it blasphemy of a cardinal order. I think it’s fine if you want to do that, but you should stop short of calling it a Carbonara and immediately leave the room and never speak to me again. There is no doubt that the delicate and delightful balance created by the yolks, fat, and the heat of the pasta is made irrelevant by cream – kind of like the difference between handmade and mass-produced. In any case, the debate can continue without me, since I will be eating the perfectly creamy concoction of pork belly fat or duck fat with tempered egg yolks; I suppose with duck bacon it is even less traditional, and once or twice over the years, much to traditionalists’ horror, I assume, I have enjoyed adding some chopped fresh parsley. I also add a little olive oil, which I think helps disperse the sauce and doesn’t allow it to clump as easily, but mostly just gives the whole thing a fruitiness I enjoy. I would use the highest quality olive oil you have available, since you’re tossing it in raw. And finally, a tablespoon or two of the cooking water seems the final touch to achieve the exact perfect consistency. This can be achieved by not fully draining the pasta, but you have to get good at judging how wet is just wet enough, so to be safe, you can fully drain the pasta and reserve some water, then add it back in little by little. You do not, repeat, do NOT, want to make this dish too wet – there should be no liquidy stuff at the bottom of the bowl – and it is better to err on the side of too dry. Too dry just means slightly more eggy and less creamy – too wet and the whole thing fails.

The most important thing is to have all of your ingredients ready before you assemble the dish. The heat of the pasta will cook the yolks thoroughly, but not if you let the pasta cool. This will work 100% of the time if you have everything ready and you move quickly. It also helps bring the parmiggiano to room temperature before you add it to the dish. If you are using pre-grated cheese, bring it out of the fridge so it comes up to room temp before you assemble.

Finally: there is no doubt that a long pasta is the preferred shape – in fact, it may be necessary. To properly temper, your egg yolks will need to be in constant contact with the hot pasta; that is to say, the most effective way to create this sauce is in the continual caress of a dozens of strands of long pasta as you whip it together, not between the sides of shorter, chunkier shapes that occasionally glance off each other. I usually use a nice fat spaghetti.

Ingredients:

• 6 slices of (duck) bacon or pancetta
• 3 large eggs
• 6 oz parmiggiano reggiano
• 2 TB olive oil
• Salt and lots of coarsely ground black pepper
• 2 oz minced parsley (optional)
• 2/3^rds box of spaghetti or other long pasta

Directions:

Bring a large pot of water to boil. While it is coming up, stack the slices of bacon on top of one another and slice it the short way in lengths about ¼” thick. (If you are using pancetta or guanciale, proceed in exactly the same way.) Place a small pan on medium heat and cook through, stirring as frequently as necessary. If you have the heat too high, the bacon will begin to burn before all the fat has rendered. You should end up with almost all of the fat in liquid form, and very little clinging to the meat (less so with pig than duck). When the bacon is done, turn off the heat and hold it on the stove, so it remains warm and the fat does not begin to solidify. Be aware that it will continue to cook from residual heat, so if you’ve brought it to the very limit, it may overcook. So plan well.

In a small bowl, pour 1 TBS of olive oil. Separate the egg yolks from the whites (doesn’t matter if a little white gets in there) and add to the olive oil. This allows you to hold them so you’re not separating in a hurry after the pasta is cooked. It doesn’t matter if the yolk breaks, as long as it’s in the olive oil. The olive oil makes sure that they don’t stick to the bottom of the bowl when you pour them in, which would lose you some valuable yolk. Again, you want to do this as early on as possible, so the eggs are not cold. This is especially important, because if the cold yolks meet very hot pasta, they could curdle. You want the process of assimilation to be as gentle as possible.

Grate all of your cheese and hold aside in a bowl or on the cutting board.

When the pasta is done, drain it, shaking off excess water in the colander. Just before you would normally consider it well drained, dump it in a large bowl. The idea here is for it to be still slightly moist, just so that it’s a little more slippery than normal and not yet sticky. Don’t forget, the pasta is quite hot and the liquid will be evaporating quite quickly, so it really is a good idea to have reserved a half a cup before draining to keep on hand.

Add the bacon and all of the fat from the small pan to the bowl of pasta. Add salt and plenty of coarsely ground black pepper. Add the cheese. Add the egg yolks on top of the cheese, and the parsley, if you’re doing that. Add the remaining TBSP of olive oil. Using a set of tongs, begin to toss the pasta, using your other hand to toss the bowl a little bit. Break of the yolks right away, and then once it is thoroughly combined, use the tongs to lift up small bunches of strands at a time, letting them slide down each other and fall back into the bowl. Stir, lift, toss, etc until it is thoroughly combined. If it is too clumpy, add 1 more TBS of olive oil and/or another tsp of cooking liquid. Taste it, and if it needs more cheese, add more.

When it’s just perfect, serve and eat immediately, of course, with more cheese.