Carbonara | Basics with Babish
Hey folks,
About a year ago,a group of real-deal Italian chefs
savagely critiqued some of the biggestCarbonara videos on the Internet.
And as you may remember,my entry was not very well received.
Since then I've dreamt ofnothing but Redemption.
So today we're gonna take a crack attwo different versions of Carbonara,
a real-deal old-school Italian version,
and a more modern less traditionalversion that's sure to piss em' off!
Let's get down to basics.
[Intro Music]
All right. So before we can make Carbonara, we've got to make "Carbonara"
which by definition, is made with"Guanciale", a type of cured pork jowl.
It is very delicious but a little hard to find.
So if you can't find it, you can subwith Pancetta if you're in a pinch.
I've got maybe a half-pound here thatI'm gonna cut into relatively sizable chunks
and then set aside to make one of the essentialelements of any Carbonara dish: The Egg Slurry.
Into a medium bowl or measuring cup goes 3 large eggs,and 1 egg yolk for a little added richness.
And then it's time to finely grate andmeasure out 4 ounces of cheese.
Truly traditional "Carbonara" uses100% Pecorino Romano Cheese,
but is commonly balanced outwith Parmigiano-Reggiano.
If you want it a little less sharp anda little more nutty, I'm going for a 50/50 ratio.
Into which I'm going to dump our beaten eggs.
We're then going to beat this whole affairtogether with a fork until homogenous.
The only other thing you're gonna want to add isa whole lot of freshly ground black pepper.
We're not adding any salt yetbecause "Guanciale" can vary in saltiness,
and we don't want to oversalt our dish.
Beat that together until well incorporated andthen it's time to head over to the Stovetop,
where we are introducing the "Guanciale" to a cold pan.
We're then gonna turn the heat to medium.
This is gonna cook the "Guanciale" more slowlyand allow more of its fat to render out
which in traditional "Carbonara" is a good thing.
Once it is fully cooked but not too crispy,
we're gonna kill the heatand put our pasta in the hot tub.
The water is "Salato come il mare",or as salty as the sea.
And we gotta keep it moving toprevent it from sticking together.
And then a cool trick to determine pasta's doneness
is to take out a strand and eat it to see if it's done.
Don't throw it against the wall, you friggin' weirdo.
As you can see, our pork jowl hasalmost entirely stopped bubbling.
That's exactly where we want it to be.
And as soon as the pasta is done,
we're dumping it directly intothe saute pan with the "Guanciale".
Once all the pasta is being addedwe're gonna toss it around in the pan,
ensuring that it is evenlycovered in all that "Guanciale" fat.
And you wanna work quickly here.
Because the only thing that's going tocook our egg slurry and make it smooth and creamy
is the residual heat from the Pasta.
So waste no time getting the egg and cheesemixture in there and then agitate rigorously!
This is going to help emulsify the sauceand keep it creamy and prevent it from curdling.
If you find that it's not as smooth as you'd like,you can add a little bit of pasta water, like a 1/4 cup.
But ideally, it should look just like this.
Now we're gonna taste for seasoning,(Mine needs a little bit of salt).
Then you can optionally toss the pasta.
This is gonna help aerate it a little bit,get that sauce super creamy!
And then, finally it's time to plate up!!
I like to use a carving fork to twirl thepasta into a giant cylinder like this one
for presentation on a long narrow plate.
We are then of course going towant to top this Hedonistic Helix
with the remaining "Guanciale"from the bottom of the pan
along with any remnants of that creamy sauce!
And there you have it folks!
I'm going to say it one last time:
"Carbonara",in its purest most authentic and traditional form.
Unless of course I got somethingwrong, in which case I'm in trouble.
But at this point I'm gonna ask all Italians to leavethe room, because it's time to make carbonara.
This starts very much the same waywith Parmesan and Romano cheese
grated into a bowl along with3 eggs and 1 egg yolk,
beaten together with a few healthytwists of freshly ground black pepper.
Now when most Americans makeCarbonara, they reach for the bacon.
If you can't find "Guanciale" or "Pancetta"and you got to use bacon,
just go for the thick-cut stuff.
And likewise we're gonna slice about1/2 a pound of it into big ol' chunks.
Then likewise, we're gonna startthese guys off in a cold pan,
because we want to render out as much fatas possible, but not for the same reason.
You'll also notice that I'm using a nonstick pan.
And that's because in the stainless, bacon can leavea lot of fond on the bottom of the pot.
Which for once we don't want, as it mightmake our final pasta look kind of dirty.
Once the bacon is fully cooked and the fatrendered out, we are going to strain it.
Because this version of Carbonarais going to have a much lighter sauce.
We're just going to strain off all butabout 2 tbsp worth of bacon fat,
which we're gonna leave in the pan.
And then we're gonna return it over medium-low heat toadd the most egregious ingredient of all: garlic.
This is considered sacrilegein the world of "Carbonara",
but I think it tastes reallyreally good, and so will you.
We're just sautéing for 1 minuteuntil fragrant before killing the heat.
Next up, I see far too many people justdump pasta out of the box in the water
which inevitably leads to disaster.
Give this a shot, where you dumpthe pasta into the palm of your hand
and then pull it out usingyour hand, like a real gentleman.
And as you can see, this timeI'm going with Bucatini.
Next up, just like last time we're addingthe pasta directly to the pan,
but this time we're gonna add about1/3 of a cup of starchy pasta water
which is gonna help make a cohesive sauce.
Then we are adding the eggand cheese mixture to the party.
And if you find yourself in a pickle like this whereyour pan is too small to toss the pasta, no biggie!
Just dump it back into the emptied pasta pot.
Just make sure that you keep it movingbecause there's a lot of residual heat in here
and we don't want to end up withpasta and scrambled eggs.
So just wildly agitate that aroundand then it's time to taste for seasoning!
Add salt and pepper as necessaryand assess your sauce's thickness.
If it's not quite thick enough, you can rescue itwith a little bit of finely-grated Parmesan.
Just add maybe another 1/4 ozor so and mix rigorously.
And now it's time to plate up!!
And one thing you'll notice about this Carbonara
is that the sauce is much lighterbecause it has a lot less fat.
It also stays creamier longer andwon't congeal as quickly as "Carbonara".
And the Bucatini, while a little bit difficult toget on one's fork, is dense and chewy and lovely.
Whichever version of Carbonarayou decide to make for yourself,
I hope this has shown you how easy it can be,so long as you follow a few simple tricks!
Now go out there, get some pasta,and start rolling your R's.
Carbonara has been the subject of some severe bastardization here in the states, where we regularly eschew Italian tradition in favor of garlic, bacon, and green peas for some reason. Today we're doing both the old-school and illegitimate versions of the hotly-contested dish, both of which deserve their place in your grandmother's handwritten recipe cards. Recipe: https://basicswithbabish.co/basicsepisodes/carbonara See those chefs tear me apart here: https://youtu.be/bnZ_70XyVAk?t=239 Music: "A Beautiful Life" by Broke for Free https://soundcloud.com/broke-for-free + Traditional Carbonara shopping list: 1/2 pound guanciale (can substitute with pancetta) 3 large eggs 1 egg yolk 4 ounces of cheese (Pecorino Romano or Parmigiano-Reggiano) Ground black pepper Spaghetti noodles + Modern Carbonara shopping list: 1/2 pound thick cut bacon Parmesan or Romano cheese 3 large eggs 1 egg yolk Ground black pepper Garlic 1/3 cup starchy pasta water Bucatini noodles