from Apron Strings
(two ways)
The carbonara served by Maria Stella was the best I’ve ever tasted. When I returned to Toronto, I repeated Maria Stella’s recipe. Twice. It was not the same, and it was because of the ingredients. Her egg yolks were il rosso – mine were anemic. I bought vacuum-packed, pre-diced pancetta (just as she had) but mine lacked porkiness. The second time, I bought a slab of “Pingue Sea Salt Preserved Air Dried” pancetta from an Italian grocery store. It was worse – tough and borderline rancid. I emailed Maria Stella and confessed my failures. She advised me to soak the pancetta in olive oil to soften it before cooking. In the meantime, I reverted to my own tried and true recipe. No onions! Yes garlic! One egg per person! Cheese! And here’s my secret to working with pallid North American ingredients: half a clove of finely minced raw garlic. Toss it into the hot carbonara at the same time you add the beaten eggs. The residual heat will mute the sting of the garlic but leave its essential flavour. Please don’t tell Maria Stella.
Spaghetti Carbonara Alla Maria Stella
Serves 4
Ingredients
2 shallots, minced
¼ cup olive oil
1/3 lb pancetta, diced
1 lb dry spaghetti
1 egg, beaten
Sea salt to taste, and for the pasta water
Freshly ground pepper
Optional garnish: ½ tsp minced parsley
Directions
Saute shallots in oil in a wok over low heat. Add pancetta. No garlic! Fry over medium heat. Boil spaghetti in a separate pot of salted water. Using pasta fork, transfer dripping spaghetti directly into wok. Turn heat to low. Add egg. Toss. Add sea salt to taste, freshly ground pepper, and if you wish, some minced parsley.
Spaghetti Caronbara – Jan’s Version
(with North American ingredients)
Serves 4
Ingredients
1/3 lb pancetta, diced
¼ cup olive oil
1 clove garlic, finely minced
1 lb dry spaghetti
3 eggs at room temperature, beaten
Sea salt to taste, and for pasta water
½ cup freshly grated Parmesan
½ cup freshly grated Romano
Freshly ground black pepper
Optional: ½ tsp minced parsley
Directions
Saute pancetta in olive oil in a wok over medium heat. When the pancetta is almost crisp, add two-thirds of the minced garlic and turn off heat. Boil spaghetti in a separate pot of salted water. Using a pasta fork, transfer dripping al dente spaghetti into the warm pancetta. Turn heat under wok to very low. Toss with remaining minced garlic, salt, beaten eggs, and grated Parmesan and Romano. Garnish with freshly ground black pepper and, if you wish, minced parsley.
Content used with permission by author Jan Wong. https://janwong.ca/
Reprinted by permission of Goose Lane Editions.
Nada’s Tips & Tricks: The moral of the carbonara recipes is: change it up to suit your own tastes and use whatever ingredients are handy and accessible. I used Jan’s recipe and added shrimp. A huge hit! If you don’t have pancetta, bacon works well.
