What is Carbonara?
IT’S ITALIAN !
If you’ve never had homemade pasta carbonara before, you’re in for a real treat!
Pasta carbonara typically features a creamy sauce that’s made with garlic, heavy cream, cheese and eggs. The egg-based sauce is cooked by combining it with the piping hot spaghetti pasta and a little of the cooking water.
The carbonara sauce recipe has variations – some prefer adding heavy cream to the sauce while some are of the opinion that the creaminess should come solely from the eggs alone. Whichever way the sauce has to be CREAMY and CUSTARDY.
Then you can toss in your favourite toppings – Here, I have used garlic honey roasted chicken breast.
No, it is not the same as lasagna white sauce i.e. the bechamel sauce. The authentic Carbonara sauce will have pork in it. Here, I have made a red meat free version of it.
CARBONARA W/- SUNDRIED TOMATOES
INGREDIENTS :
- 450g spaghetti
- 1 cup boiled pasta water
- 2 tbsp butter
- 7 garlic cloves, crushed
- 100g cheddar cheese, grated
- 1 tsp freshly ground black pepper
- 3 eggs, beaten
- 2 tbsp Italian mix (dried) herbs
- 60g sun-dried or semi-dried tomatoes in oil, drained
- 2 tbsp Grated Parmesan
METHOD :
- Bring a large pot of salted water to the boil. Add the spaghetti and cook according to packet instructions.
- When cooked, drain the spaghetti in a large colander. (keep around 1 to 2 cups of pasta water aside)
- Meanwhile, melt the butter and put the garlic in a small saucepan and bring to a simmer. Add the cheddar and allow to melt over a low heat.
- Then add some of the boiled pasta water and cook to make a sauce.
- You may need to stir it vigorously to make a smooth mixture. Remove from the heat and allow to cool slightly.
- Add the beaten eggs to the cheese sauce a little at a time, stirring constantly until each addition is smoothly incorporated. (If there are a few lumps of cheese, it really doesn’t matter.)
- Add the Italian mixed dried herbs and season with freshly ground black pepper to the sauce.
- Return the spaghetti pan to the heat and pour the cheese sauce over the spaghetti.
- Add the sun-dried tomatoes and parsley. Toss everything together until the spaghetti is completely coated.(Here I have used some garlic honey roasted chicken as a side dish)
Handy Tips :
- Be sure to immediately add the hot pasta water into the egg mixture to help cook it (if needed, you could even re-warm it in the microwave, but it needs to be very hot).
- If you boil the pasta in less water what it will do is, concentrate the starches, which will help bind everything in the sauce and prevent separation when you add it to the egg mixture.
- Use freshly grated Parmesan.
Garnish with some fresh basil leaves and sun-dried tomatoes. Serve immediately.
