European Recipes:Italian recipes: Biagio's Spaghetti Carbonara

* Exported from MasterCook *

                        Biagio's Spaghetti Carbonara

Recipe By     : Byron Howes North Carolina Education Computing Service, Rese
Serving Size : 1    Preparation Time :0:00
Categories    : Ethnic                           Meats
                 Pasta

   Amount Measure       Ingredient -- Preparation Method
-------- ------------ --------------------------------
500      g             thin spaghetti, rotini or equivalent pasta
   30      ml            olive oil
250      g             pancetta or bacon
    1                    medium yellow onion (chopped)
125      ml            cold water
   60      ml            dry Italian white wine
    4                    eggs
   60      ml            heavy cream
100      g             parmesan cheese (grated)

1. Put large bowl in oven to warm at lowest possible setting.

2. Soak chopped onion in cold water for 15 minutes to reduce pungency.

3. Chop Pancetta or bacon into 5mmx2cm strips.

4. Beat eggs and cream together with a fork. Add 50 g parmesan cheese to the
mixture.

5. Wash pasta. Put on water to cook pasta. Add pasta when boiling. In the
meantime...

6 . Dry onions and saute with pancetta or bacon in olive oil until onions are
barely translucent.

7. Add wine and reduce heat when initial boiling ceases. Meat should not be
crisp.

8. When pasta is cooked, drain, but .I do not wash. .S

9. Quickly remove bowl from oven, put pasta in it and toss with egg, cream and
cheese mixture so that heat from pasta cooks eggs.

10. Add meat, onions and wine without draining fat and toss until thoroughly
mixed.

11. Sprinkle remaining cheese to taste, toss and serve immediately.

Author's Notes:
My wife and I had the pleasure of staying at the Villa Virgiliana
    (owned by The Vergilian Society) in Cuma, Italy just outside of Naples in
    June, 1985. Biagio and Maria Sgariglia, the proprietors of the villa,
    served us excellent Italian farm meals for a week, each meal being more
    delicious than the last. This dish was the gastronomic highlight of our
    stay.

Pasta should be cooked al dente so that it offers resistance to the
    teeth without crunching. Fresh pasta is desirable (dried pasta is a poor
    imitation of the real thing.) Pasta should be used immediately when done
    so as to stop its internal cooking. If both portions of the recipe cannot
    be completed at the same time, the meat and onion mixture should finish
    first. I have made a very successful variation on this using hot country
    sausage. Make sure the sausage is fairly lean if you try it, however. All
    of the quantities are adjustable, and may depend on the kind of pasta or
    meat you use. Too much cream will cause the egg mixture to separate from
    the pasta and meat. Too little cream will essentially give you scrambled
    eggs and bacon with pasta.