I decided on spaghetti alla carbonara - another well-known dish that I haven't actually tried before - because it looks really yummy, and perhaps more importantly, all of us would like it! (And obviously because I wanted to try it.)
The link to the recipe is below if anyone would like to see it; I think it's worth a look for the introduction alone! I love how Nigella always writes introductions to her recipes - it makes the food more personal and it makes the cookbook more fun to read!
http://www.nigella.com/recipes/view/spaghetti-alla-carbonara-127
The recipe uses 500g spaghetti for two people. This is of course rather a lot, but the reasons for this are explained in the online recipe. I decided to instead use 300g spaghetti for the three of us (which was plenty), but use the same amount of sauce, as we like sauce a lot in my family. Saucy saucy.
Ingredients
-500g packet spaghetti
-275g pancetta or lardons (I bought ready cubed pancetta out of pure laziness and convenience, but if that's unavailable buy a chunk of it instead, and cube it yourself, removing the rind)
-2 tsp olive oil
-60ml dry white wine or vermouth
-4 eggs
-50g Parmesan, freshly grated (don't buy the dried powdered cheese; it's just not as good as fresh!)
-60ml double cream
-Black pepper
-Freshly grated nutmeg
Method:
1. Put some water on the boil ready for the spaghetti. I always add a little salt and olive oil to the water when cooking pasta, because that's how everyone in my family does it - I can't say why for sure but my guess is that the salt adds flavour, and the oil stops it sticking.
2. Meanwhile, heat the 2 tsp oil in a large saucepan big enough to hold all the pasta later (I used my trusty wok again). Fry the pancetta cubes until crispy, but not too crunchy. Most of the really fatty bits should have melted down, and the smell of salty bacon will be filling the kitchen. If you have a greedy labrador, they are likely to appear at this point.
3. Pour the wine over the pancetta cubes and allow to bubble away for a few minutes, until reduced. Remove from the heat.
4. Beat together the eggs, parmesan and cream and season with black pepper.
5. When the sketty (or spaghetti if you're not a Christley) is ready, reserve about 125ml of the cooking water and then drain.
6. Return the pan with the pancetta cubes to the heat and add the spaghetti, tossing to coat in the mix. As always happens, no matter how well you toss, most of the pancetta will sit at the bottom anyway and refuse to blend. Don't worry about this - just spoon it over the pasta when you serve it later.
7. Remove the pan from the heat and stir in the egg mixture, tossing to coat.
8. Season with more pepper and grate over some nutmeg, and then serve!
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| You get more than this each don't worry, I was just super keen to take a picture so I could eat it! |
This dish is extremely rich and extremely satisfying - the kind of meal where I know I'm full but I finish it anyway because it's so good! I found that it had plenty of cheesy flavour, but my parents both grated a mound of extra parmesan on theirs, so I suggest grating some extra to put on the table for any guests who are cheese crazy. Or do what I did and just leave the block of cheese on there with a grater; if they want it enough they're willing to do it themselves. Fact.
Another thing to add: my mum actually said that it was a shame I hadn't made more! Which was quite a nice compliment! (Or a thinly veiled complaint, you decide). It did taste very VERY good, but I don't think I could've managed much more myself just because it was so very filling and rich.
But again, those same words: this was really yummy, go and make it!!
Thank you for reading!
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