After watching Frankie make a big pot of Linguine alla Carbonara on one of my favorite shows, Better Things, I craved that delicious, creamy pasta. I’ve made it a couple of times since, and it is a very simple dish. I use a recipe from Lidia Bastianich’s cookbook, Lidia’s Italian-American Kitchen. Lidia explains that you often see this dish cooked with cream. However, that is not the traditional style. Traditional carbonara uses egg yolks. The heat of the pasta cooks the egg yolks.
Ingredients:
6 ounces slab bacon
2 TBS olive oil
2 large yellow onions, sliced 1/2 inch thick (about 3 cups)
1 1/2 cups hot chicken stock
1 pound linguine; I use spaghetti noodles, you can use whatever you prefer
3 egg yolks
1 cup freshly grated Parmigiano Reggiano cheese
Coarsely ground black pepper
Directions:
Bring a pot of salted water to a boil for the linguine.
Cut the bacon into 1/4-inch thick slices, heat the oil in a large, heavy skillet, and add the bacon; cook for about 6 minutes. Bacon should be soft in the center and lightly browned.
If there is more than 3-4 TBS of oil in the skillet, remove some to leave 3-4 TBS. Add the onions with the bacon and cook for about 4-5 minutes; the onions should wilt but stay crunchy. Add the stock, bring to a boil, and reduce to a simmer. Reduce the sauce by half.
Cook the pasta semi-covered until tender.
Ladle off a cup of the pasta water. If the skillet is large enough to accommodate sauce and pasta, fish the pasta out of the boiling water and drop it into the sauce; stir to coat. Bring the sauce and pasta to a boil, check the seasoning, and add salt if necessary. Add chicken stock or pasta water if there is not enough sauce to coat the pasta.
Meanwhile, separate your eggs and whisk each yolk lightly; keep them separate, as you’ll add them one at a time.
Remove the pasta from the heat and stir in each egg yolk separately. A salad fork and spoon work well here. Stir vigorously as you add each yolk to keep the eggs from scrambling.
Add the cheese and black pepper. Serve immediately
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