This is the ultimate weeknight quick comfort meal. Once your ingredients are assembled and the pasta is cooking, it comes together in 15 minutes or less. If you *must* include a vegetable, stir some thawed frozen peas into the mixture at the same time as you add pancetta to the pasta.
Rigatoni Carbonara with Pancetta
1 box Semolina Artisanal Rigatoni (1lb)
4 ea Egg yolks
2 ea Whole eggs
4 oz Smoking Goose Pancetta
2 Tb Sierra de Cazorla olive oil
3 oz Parmigiano Reggiano, finely grated
Salt and Black Pepper
Cut pancetta into ½” cubes. Whisk eggs and yolks together in a medium bowl, then mix in ¾ of the grated Parmigiano and several cracks of black pepper.
Heat 6 quarts water to a boil in a large pot, season with ~3T salt. Add pasta and cook until just a bit firmer than al dente. Before draining, carefully scoop out around 2 cups of the cooking liquid to form your sauce. While the water comes to a boil and the pasta cooks, prepare your pancetta.
Cook the pancetta in a pot large enough to mix your finished pasta over medium-low heat until all sides are evenly browned and much of the fat has rendered out. Remove cooked pancetta to a plate or small bowl and pour the hot fat out of the pot. This can be used for another purpose, but the flavor is a bit too intense for this pasta.
Add 2T olive oil to pot you used for pancetta, then add 1 cup of the reserved cooking liquid, bringing to a simmer over medium heat. Mix in the still-hot rigatoni. Whisk ½ cup of the pasta liquid into the egg and cheese mixture, then stir quickly into the rigatoni and add pancetta, allowing everything to cook while you stir for a minute or two more until the sauce has a creamy consistency. Plate the rigatoni and top with additional black pepper and grated cheese.
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