Ham and Pea Pasta Carbonara {RECIPE VIDEO} - Self Proclaimed Foodie (2024)

FAQs

What is the golden rule of cooking a carbonara? ›

The golden rule to silky carbonara is to whisk your egg whites so that they're completely incorporated with the egg yolks. This will create a smooth, velvety sauce. As like any pasta dish, including carbonara, cook the pasta perfectly al dente so that it's soft but still firm, with some bite.

Not if you do it correctly. The boiling hot pasta is supposed to cook the egg and would kill any chance of salmonella. You can get salmonella from biting your fingernails. Salmonella bacteria is everywhere, most commonly sourced from animal feces…

There are no peas in the classic carbonara; however, when I was in a little town outside Rome I was served a carbonara with asparagus. And in my restaurants, I always put peas in my carbonara. There's just something about the sonderful taste of peas, creamed pecorino, and guanciale that is wonderful.

What not to put in Spaghetti Carbonara? Don't put garlic, cream, milk or butter. It is not needed. It is fine if you want to make a dish with those ingredients, but if you want to learn how to make this dish correctly, use only pecorino, eggs/egg yolks, black pepper, guanciale, and pasta water.

Because in the traditional recipe there is no garlic, if you add it you will lower quality of a very good food. My personal opinion is that garlic flavour does not fit with the egg nor the guanciale (pork cheek fat) flavour at all.

Equally important is that the fat that melts out of the guanciale is required to thicken the carbonara sauce to make it creamy. Basically, what happens is that when the fat from the guanciale and in the egg yolks is mixed with starchy pasta cooking water, it thickens.

Add a little of the pasta cooking water when you bring the spaghetti into the pan with the pancetta/bacon. The water is starchy, so acts as a natural thickener, making the dish extra silky. It's also taking some of that sting out of the pan heat so you can add the eggs and cheese without scrambling.

What distinguishes carbonara from other pasta dishes is its technique of combining eggs, hard cheese, cured pork, and black pepper into a rich, silky sauce. This recipe calls for raw eggs that are gently cooked by the hot sauce. If you prefer, you can use pasteurized eggs instead.

Candelori says adding cream to carbonara is the biggest no-no, as the creaminess of the pasta dish should only come courtesy of the raw egg and the addition of some of the reserved cooking water. "Eggs are the unsung hero of a carbonara. Can you use cream instead of eggs for carbonara recipe?

Eating pasta regularly isn't inherently bad – it's how you go about it and what you combine the pasta with that's the issue. For example, registered nutritionist VJ Hamilton says sticking to a pasta-heavy diet could lead you to neglect other forms of nutrition.

How do you know if carbonara is bad? ›

To tell if your Pasta Carbonara has gone bad, first look for any visible signs of spoilage such as mould or discolouration on the surface. You should also check for any foul smells. A fresh Pasta Carbonara should smell creamy and aromatic, but if it has a sour or rotten smell, it's time to toss it.

As the fat renders, he removes some of the molten liquid with a spoon. The lean part of the meat ultimately caramelises and becomes a sort of "popcorn guanciale": crunchy outside and tender inside. His carbonara is very yellow in colour since he only uses egg yolks – one per 60g of pasta.

We've added fresh mint, peas and broccoli to give this Italian classic a summery twist. There's no weeknight dinner more comforting than creamy, cheesy carbonara. We've added fresh mint, peas and broccoli to give this Italian classic a summery twist.

Carbonara literally means coal miner's wife in Italian. Carbone means coal. Some say the dish was first made as a meal for Italian coal miners. Others say it was originally made over charcoal grills. And then some say it is called carbonara because of the black, freshly milled pepper.

For this recipe, the egg mixture is cooked with addition of the hot pasta and by stirring in some hot pasta water. If it makes you feel safer, you can add the eggs with the pasta to the hot pan once it has been removed from the heat. However, if the pan is too hot, the eggs will cook up too quickly and scramble them.

Traditional carbonara sauce is made with whole eggs, not just the yolks. However, some recipes do call for just yolks. In the traditional recipe, the eggs are beaten together with grated Pecorino Romano cheese, black pepper, and sometimes a bit of Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese.