I got Lisa a pasta-maker and then, after we made fresh pasta together during one of my visits to DC, I came home and bought one for myself! I find that there are certain dishes that taste better with fresh pasta and others that taste better with dried pasta. This carbonara is one of those dishes where taking the time to roll fresh pasta makes a world of difference since the sauce is fairly subtle, allowing the pasta dough flavor and texture to really come through.
For my version of this recipe, I used pancetta instead of bacon. I usually store my pancetta in the freezer in tightly wrapped plastic. I find that dicing pancetta when it's frozen is much easier than when it's room temperature. I also added some chicken stock to build more of a sauce base. I didn't have white wine on hand, but I will definitely try that next time. Overall, I think this is one of those go-to comfort meals since it's so creamy, rich, and just plain satisfying.
Sash- Your version looks great. I like that you were heavy handed with the pepper. I never thought of the chicken broth idea - great addition. If you don't have chicken broth just use the pasta water to loosen things up. Do you know about the vacuum wine stopper? I use it to keep my cooking wines fresh in the fridge for up to a month. It's very handy to have the wine readily available and less pressure to drink the whole bottle once open :) This might be a good head over heels post.
ReplyDeleteYes! The vacuum wine stopper is great. A kitchen tools series is a fantastic "Head Over Heels" concept. Let's start brainstorming...
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