Recipe of the Week: Extra Virgin - Spaghetti Alla Carbonara

I absolutely adore, Debi Mazar and her husband, Gabriele Corcos...otherwise known as the dynamic duo behind the website, Under the Tuscan Gun and The Cooking Channel's, Extra Virgin. 

Married in 2002 the family divides its time between Brooklyn, NY (Mazur's a native New Yorker) and a 14th century house outside of Florence, Italy (Corcos's in-law's gave them for a wedding present).  

I've been a loyal fan of Extra Virgin since its debut January 2011 and recently they released a cookbook, Recipes and Love from our Tuscan Kitchen in April 2014.

Last Thursday night, I made Spaghetti Alla Carbonara from S-C-R-A-T-C-H!!!  It was fabulous! I can't wait to cook my way through the entire cookbook.

Enjoy!
Stacy

Spaghetti Alla Carbonara

Slightly Adapted from Under the Tuscan Gun

Ingredients:

8 oz. pancetta, diced

olive oil 3 tablespoons, divided

1 lb spaghetti

3 large organic egg yolks, plus one whole organic egg

2 garlic cloves, chopped

1 cup freshly grated Parmigiano Reggiano

ground pepper

Directions:

Cook the pancetta in 2 tablespoons olive oil over medium high heat, until crisp.  Add the garlic and saute for 1-2 minutes.  Remove from the heat and set aside (I drained fat, they do not). 

Bring a pot of salted water to a boil and cook spaghetti according to package directions.  Reserve 1 cup of cooking liquid.

In a small bowl, beat the egg yolks and whole egg, the grated cheese and some black pepper.  Add the cooled pancetta to the egg mixture.

Once your pasta has been cooked, drain and place it in a large bowl.  Quickly add the egg mixture and mix very well, then add the rest of the pasta water to help create the creaminess of the pasta.

Serve garnished with some grated Parmesan and a drip or two of extra virgin olive oil.

 

My Notes:  I drained my pancetta after cooking (I had about 1/2 cup of fat after rendering it down and I didn't want to add that to my pasta).  Extra Virgin recipe says to NOT drain fat.

I tempered the egg mixture with about 1/2 cup of the pasta water, then added about 2 tablespoons to the pasta when mixing.  In my opinion, tempering the eggs prevents them from scrambling when adding to the hot pasta (which I had had happen before and I really screws up your dish).