So about a year and a half ago I went to Rome for the first time. And it changed my thinking about food, especially pasta, even though I have spent a lot of time on and attention to food (and pasta) over the years. I know I’m not the only one who’s experienced this, but…I had a plate of pasta carbonara in a placed called Salumeria Roscioli that kicked my a**, hard. Imagine a plate of pasta telling you to shut up and sit down and pay attention. Chewy, thick pasta. Rich, yellow egg. Tons of black pepper. Salt to seize you and focus you. It was so simple, and so overpoweringly strong. I surrendered, I was in it, and then it was over. And then I had to go back to New York, and remember how good it had been. I just found this photo of it, in fact:
Now we make carbonara at home regularly, but it’s a version I evolved over the years to feed my kids, and you can think of it as bacon-and-eggs-and-parmesan-and-onions-and-peas-in-pasta. Delicious, yes, but not the carbonara I now know to exist in the real world, in Italy.
So last week, as a special treat, my honey and me finally went to Danny Meyer’s Roman-style Trattoria called Maialino, with high expectations. I’m sorry to say I was deeply disappointed. No photo, but I can tell you the dish looked great. Felt pretty good to the tooth, too. But the flavor just wasn’t there; it was like someone had followed instructions exactly but put no heart and soul into making flavor and love. I was a little embarrassed to be sitting in such a carefully-constructed restaurant with Danny Meyer touches and service, and at the bottom was just not so great food. Not cheap food, either.
Well, I knew it was time to just figure out how to scratch the itch as best we could at home. Even if it takes a few years, I’m willing to work on it. And here’s the first pass, thanks to Milo for the lovely photo:
We did it with just a few steps:
- 2 pounds of De Cecco spaghetti in a lot of boiling salted water
- 8 ounces of pancetta, cubed and fried up in a touch of olive oil and 5 cloves of garlic, crushed
- When the garlic turns brown, pull it out
- When the pancetta’s done (crisped), keep it warm on a low flame
- In a big bowl, beat 6 egg yolks and 2 eggs, plus a pile of black pepper and sea salt
- Put it all together when the pasta is still very al dente (more than you think)
- Add even more black pepper, salt, and the finest parmigiano reggiano you can find (handfuls of it)
- I drizzled a little more olive oil and some pasta water on top
It was pretty dang good and those hungry kids thought so too. Definitely room for improvement, and have to figure out how they coat the pasta with yellow egg and we seem to end up cooking it, but we’ll get there.
It didn’t exactly shout at me, but it was singing with a strong voice. Just don’t try to operate heavy machinery afterward.
