“Pasta Carbonaaara”
An Emily Original
12 June, 2022
Alright ladies and gentlemen……… after much pestering from my family, friends, and now Annika in Europe, I have finally gotten around to posting this well-known dish amongst my Sunday night dinner attendees. Read the title of this recipe out loud with your best Italian accent! This was one of the first dishes I perfected in the beginning of my culinary adventures. Pasta carbonara used to be my favorite dish when I was a kid. I pretty much asked for it for six straight years of birthday dinners. One year my uncle decided to play a trick on me (I think he was tired of eating carbonara……… I can’t imagine myself ever getting tired of it). Instead of my favorite dish, he showed up with a remote-controlled car with a banana tied on top of it. Get it? Pasta Car Banana……. It was funny at the time……
Anyhow…… back to the task at hand. My mother typically made this dish with ham chunks, bacon, eggs, and lots of cream. I have since altered it to better bring out the flavor of all the fresh pasta I use these days. With my Phillips pasta maker, I have not bought a box of dried spaghetti in at least 10 years. Once you go fresh you never go back!
This is one of those recipes that you should adjust it to your liking. If you want it creamier then add an extra egg. I will never tell you to not add more meat, so if you prefer a meaty pasta, then add a couple extra links of Italian sausage. You get more flavor if you use two different types of salty Italian meats. I always have some Italian sausage in my freezer, but if you don’t have prosciutto, then you can always swap it out with some pancetta or other salty hams.
Ingredients
2 pounds of fresh spaghetti (that means two cups of flour in my Philips pasta maker) or one box of dried spaghetti
1 pound of Italian sausage (mix it up with a combo of sweet and spicy)
10 slices of prosciutto (really, just add as much as you want. I love the stuff!) sliced or ripped. Ripping it is way easier!
6 large eggs, the fresher the better!
1/2 cup of diced parsley (curly or flat, I just use whatever I have the most of in my herb pots)
1 cup of shredded or grated parmesan cheese
1 tablespoon of McCormick’s Mediterranean Sea salt. (You can also use an Italian seasoning blend)
Instructions
1. Make your pasta, or get the box of pasta out of the pantry (to make sure you actually have some). Start simmering a pot of water with a tablespoon of added salt.
2. Fill a pasta pot with the strainer insert with water and start heating the water to a boiling point.
3. Whisk the eggs in a large mixing bowl. Once the eggs reach an even consistency, add in the cheese, chopped parsley, and Mediterranean sea salt. Mix everything together and set aside for later.
4. in a large Sautee pan, Sautee the prosciutto until it starts releasing some of its oils. Add the Italian sausage and break it up into small bite-sized chunks. Let the sausage cook through and then turn the heat off.
5. Once your pasta water is boiling, add a couple of teaspoons of salt. Add in your pasta. If you are cooking dried pasta, just follow the directions on the box for time. If using fresh pasta, once the pasta floats to the top it will be done in 2-3 minutes, depending on the thickness of the pasta.
6. Pour your cooked pasta into the meat pan. Add 1/2 cup of the pasta water to the meat pan, and heat on low. This helps to keep the pasta from sticking together.
7. Once the water has cooked off in the meat pan, turn the heat off. Have a pair of pasta tongs sitting by. While the pasta is still hot, pour the egg mixture over the pasta and mix it in with the tongs. You want to make sure the heat is off for the pan, so you don’t scramble the eggs. The hot pasta will cook the eggs for you.
Once you have all of the egg mixture incorporated, VOILA!!!!!!!!! You have successfully accomplished “Pasta Carbonaaara”! Serve it up in a pasta dish and add some more chopped parsley to garnish if you want! And whatever you do, don’t forget the garlic bread! You aren’t counting calories with this dish.
