The CookingBites Cookalong: Pasta Carbonara

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Recipe - Pasta Carbonara

Ok, this was kind of a fun almost-disaster.

I started out making a half-recipe, then (in true TastyReuben fashion) forgot and switched to a full recipe, then forgot that, and actually ended up doubling the sauce. Yes, thank you, thank you <takes a bow>. :)

Started with the pancetta:

Then the pasta got going:

Supper is ready:

On the plate:

Clos

The mistakes continued after cooking. I didn't dump it out of the pan onto the plates immediately, and I left the burner on, so when I did go to serve it, I had very hard-cooked scrambled eggs in the bottom of the pan. I've got some cleaning to do later, as I did all this in a stainless steel pan.

Onto the review:

I can make this really easy...this tasted uncannily like boxed Kraft macaroni and cheese, and I mean the powdered stuff. Since the ingredients here are all quality, I guess that means I have to give a little respect back to Kraft.

Italian (-American)-style green beans. I'll throw those pics in as well, since I have them:



 
Recipe - Pasta Carbonara

Ok, this was kind of a fun almost-disaster.

I started out making a half-recipe, then (in true TastyReuben fashion) forgot and switched to a full recipe, then forgot that, and actually ended up doubling the sauce. Yes, thank you, thank you <takes a bow>. :)

Started with the pancetta:

Then the pasta got going:

Supper is ready:

On the plate:

Clos

The mistakes continued after cooking. I didn't dump it out of the pan onto the plates immediately, and I left the burner on, so when I did go to serve it, I had very hard-cooked scrambled eggs in the bottom of the pan. I've got some cleaning to do later, as I did all this in a stainless steel pan.

Onto the review:

I can make this really easy...this tasted uncannily like boxed Kraft macaroni and cheese, and I mean the powdered stuff. Since the ingredients here are all quality, I guess that means I have to give a little respect back to Kraft.

Italian (-American)-style green beans. I'll throw those pics in as well, since I have them:




This made me smile... the photo in the pan looks lovely. But of course, once plated the bits of scramble are visible. I may not have noticed if you hadn't mentioned it.
 
This made me smile... the photo in the pan looks lovely. But of course, once plated the bits of scramble are visible. I may not have noticed if you hadn't mentioned it.
You have to kind of pay attention to the following to get how hilariously messed up it got:

Every ingredient, I told myself, "Don't forget...half recipe!" In with half the pancetta listed, "Don't forget, half recipe!" It's always my mantra when I'm doing that.

Got through the garlic, the rosemary, weighed out the pasta, all that.

Then there was a slight pause in the action, and when I moved on, I used the full amounts of egg yolk and the cheeses.

That would have been fine, just would have had double the sauce, but noooooo...I had to get even further confused.

The pasta was close to done, and suddenly, I realized I'd added three eggs, but thought that I'd added only half the cheeses, so I added more cheese (doubling the cheese), that did not look right, realized I'd probably made another mistake, added a fourth egg yolk and somewhere between a third and a half again of water, and settled on that.

It tasted fine when I was done, and I just avoided the layer of pasta directly in contact with the pan.

I'm planning to have my first go ever at making carbonara on Monday. Will post the result here... win, lose, or draw.
Whatever you do, once you add the egg mixture and toss/stir for a couple of seconds, get it on the plate! :laugh:
 
You have to kind of pay attention to the following to get how hilariously messed up it got:

Every ingredient, I told myself, "Don't forget...half recipe!" In with half the pancetta listed, "Don't forget, half recipe!" It's always my mantra when I'm doing that.

Got through the garlic, the rosemary, weighed out the pasta, all that.

Then there was a slight pause in the action, and when I moved on, I used the full amounts of egg yolk and the cheeses.

That would have been fine, just would have had double the sauce, but noooooo...I had to get even further confused.

The pasta was close to done, and suddenly, I realized I'd added three eggs, but thought that I'd added only half the cheeses, so I added more cheese (doubling the cheese), that did not look right, realized I'd probably made another mistake, added a fourth egg yolk and somewhere between a third and a half again of water, and settled on that.

It tasted fine when I was done, and I just avoided the layer of pasta directly in contact with the pan.


Whatever you do, once you add the egg mixture and toss/stir for a couple of seconds, get it on the plate! :laugh:

Mise en place, TR... mise on place is your friend.

CD
 
My Attempt at Carbonara

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So to cut a long story short...was so happy with this dish. The base of the dish, the homemade pasta and sauce just worked so well. Was just delicious!!
But...a few notes I made to make it better next time. I couldn't get guanciale (disappointingly) so used a good pancetta. I diced the pancetta cubes too big, so some of the pieces that had less fat in them were a bit big and slightly chewy. Still tasted good though. The pippies though nice, were totally unnecessary to this dish, and have to admit their addition was more about how the dish looked then an essential component.
Anyway, that's my attempt...and I did make a video for YouTube of the process that goes for a while because I went through the pasta making bit first. I'm not using this site to promote my videos (and I'm not monetized) , but happy to put the link here if anyone wants. Cheers!!
 
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My Attempt at Carbonara

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So to cut a long story short...was so happy with this dish. The base of the dish, the homemade pasta and sauce just worked so well. Was just delicious!!
But...a few notes I made to make it better next time. I couldn't get guanciale (disappointingly) so used a good pancetta. I diced the pancetta cubes too big, so some of the pieces that had less fat in them were a bit big and slightly chewy. Still tasted good though. The pippies though nice, were totally unnecessary to this dish, and have to admit their addition was more about how the dish looked then an essential component.
Anyway, that's my attempt...and I did make a video for YouTube of the process that goes for a while because I went through the pasta making bit first. I'm not using this site to promote my videos, but happy to put the link here if anyone wants. Cheers!!

I like the idea of 'surf 'n turf' carbonara. Did you make your own pasta?


P.S. what happened to the colour in your photos...?
 
I like the idea of 'surf 'n turf' carbonara. Did you make your own pasta?


P.S. what happened to the colour in your photos...?

Yes, definitely made my own pasta.... the colour is natural for cooked pippies. I'm surprised they're not used more because they taste good and have that dramatic splash of colour once cooked. Unfortunately, they are mostly used more for bait here by recreational fisherman trying to catch less tasty (in my opinion) species of fish.
 
the colour is natural for cooked pippies. I'm surprised they're not used more because they taste good and have that dramatic splash of colour once cooked

I was thinking that the plate also look purple/blue. Not sure we can get those pretty pippies here...
 
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