I first tried Carbonara the summer of 1988, in Corfu during my summer vacation in Greece. This pasta dish is made with eggs, lots of black pepper, diced guanciale (or pancetta) and here in Canada, bacon does the trick too!
Traditionalists will scream if you add cream (ha-ha) and if you make a Carbonara properly, the egg/cheese mixture tempered with pasta water will give you a creamy sauce.
Though Carbonara is basic in ingredients, the biggest challenge with preparing the dish is to not scramble the eggs. Slow and steady and you’ll have a creamy sauce.
Today, I am going to use Spanish Chorizo sausage. It’s dry cured, containing smoked paprika, garlic and I think it works wonderfully in this dish.
Chorizo Carbonara
(serves 4)
300 gr. of spaghetti
1 cup diced Spanish Chorizo Sausage
2 cloves of garlic
2 cups grated Romano (or Parmensan) cheese
4 large eggs
lots of fresh ground pepper
- Place a large pot of water on your stove-top. Once boiling, add a good amount of salt, the spaghetti and cook for 6-7 minutes.
- Place a large skillet on your stove-top and add your garlic and Chorizo. Turn heat to medium, stirring often until Chorizo is brown and crisp. Discard garlic.
- In another bowl, add cheese, eggs and pepper and whisk until creamy.
- When the pasta is cooked, use tongs to transfer to your pan with the Chorizo.
- Turn the heat on to low under the pan with Chorizo and add one ladle of pasta water to the pan with pasta and Chorizo.
- Slowly add a ladle of pasta water into the bowl with eggs and cheese while whisking.
- Add the egg/cheese mixture to the pasta, mix with your tongs quickly and until sauce becomes creamy.
- Divide and serve in bowls, top with more cheese and fresh ground pepper and serve.
