During our stay in Switzerland, we stayed one night at a wonderful airbnb in the luxury Paradisio area. The view was breath taking, over looking the Lugano lake. Just ten minutes walk away was a supermarket and since Jack had been asking for a Carbonara ever since we arrived in Europe, I decided that a carbonara would be a great last dish to end our trip.
After I posted the picture in facebook, my friend messaged me and suggest the use of Percorino Cheese to mix in with the basic Parmigiano Regiiano. And who am I to shy away from new ingredients? I found the cheese in the airport duty free and as soon as we got settled back in Bangkok, I made this dish for the whole family.
I researched little on this new (well, for me anyway) Cheese. Percorino is a hard crumbly cheese, similar to Parmigiano Regiiano, but made of sheep milk! It has a sharper after taste but when combined in this dish, it gave the carbonara an extra dimension. If you do not have it, that's ok, just use the Parmigiano Regiiano.
After I posted the picture in facebook, my friend messaged me and suggest the use of Percorino Cheese to mix in with the basic Parmigiano Regiiano. And who am I to shy away from new ingredients? I found the cheese in the airport duty free and as soon as we got settled back in Bangkok, I made this dish for the whole family.
I researched little on this new (well, for me anyway) Cheese. Percorino is a hard crumbly cheese, similar to Parmigiano Regiiano, but made of sheep milk! It has a sharper after taste but when combined in this dish, it gave the carbonara an extra dimension. If you do not have it, that's ok, just use the Parmigiano Regiiano.
Ingredients
How to
Boil water with salt on high heat, once on rolling boil, add the pasta of choice.
Add chopped Pancetta onto a cold pan, turn on the heat to high, by doing this, you are rendering the fat out of the bacon. Cook until crispy, keep the heat to low. Leave everything in the pan.
Crack the eggs in a bowl, add cheese, salt and pepper to taste, some people add cream, but you don't need it, unless you want it, then I suggest you use the best of the best, use just two heaping table spoons of Creme Fraiche.
Reserve 1 cup or more of pasta water, and drain the rest.
On a pancetta pan, turn off the heat, pour the drained steaming hot pasta into the pan, toss until the fat coat every part of the pasta and then add the egg and cheese mixture, and 1/2 cup of pasta water, toss until the sauce has coated every strain of pasta, if it is too dry, add a little bit of pasta water at a time. By not mixing this over the heat, the egg mixture will thicken by the heat of the pasta and will coat your pasta in a beautiful glossy way.
Plate the pasta in a serving plate, sprinkle with additional shredded cheese and if you want to be fancy, some chopped parsley.
Serve hot with dusting of grated Parmagiano.
Serves 2.
- 2 handfulls of Penne per person, so that's about 4-5 (or any pasta of choice)
- 3 large eggs
- 1/2 cup pasta water
- 1 cup chopped Pancetta or thick cut fatty bacon substitute
- 4 racks of bacon with plenty of fat, chopped
- 1 cup Parmigano Reggiano, shredded
- 1 cup Percorino, shredded
- salt and pepper to taste
How to
Boil water with salt on high heat, once on rolling boil, add the pasta of choice.
Add chopped Pancetta onto a cold pan, turn on the heat to high, by doing this, you are rendering the fat out of the bacon. Cook until crispy, keep the heat to low. Leave everything in the pan.
Crack the eggs in a bowl, add cheese, salt and pepper to taste, some people add cream, but you don't need it, unless you want it, then I suggest you use the best of the best, use just two heaping table spoons of Creme Fraiche.
Reserve 1 cup or more of pasta water, and drain the rest.
On a pancetta pan, turn off the heat, pour the drained steaming hot pasta into the pan, toss until the fat coat every part of the pasta and then add the egg and cheese mixture, and 1/2 cup of pasta water, toss until the sauce has coated every strain of pasta, if it is too dry, add a little bit of pasta water at a time. By not mixing this over the heat, the egg mixture will thicken by the heat of the pasta and will coat your pasta in a beautiful glossy way.
Plate the pasta in a serving plate, sprinkle with additional shredded cheese and if you want to be fancy, some chopped parsley.
Serve hot with dusting of grated Parmagiano.
Serves 2.