Who doesn't love carbonara!
Carbonara! A classic Italian pasta dish consisting of only a few key ingredients, pasta, bacon, black pepper, eggs, and parmesan. This defines italian cuisine where you use the few ingredients you have on hand and make it into an irresistible dish. Typically you use pork bacon but I found some duck bacon at central market and thought it would be a great substitute. Obviously you can use whatever bacon is your favorite, but if you don't mind splurging a few more dollars to pay for the duck I'm sure you will be completely satisfied. With such a simple dish to me what makes this dish amazing is the homemade noodles. To me anytime you have homemade noodles you really can't go wrong. Here is the recipe I hope you enjoy it!
Homemade noodles
Pasta
4 eggs
2 cups flour "00"
1 cup semolina
2 tbsp warm water
1 tbsp of olive oil
Salt
8 oz Duck bacon large diced
4 eggs yolks
1/2 cup of pasta water
1/4 cup chopped green onions
3/4 cup of Parmesan grated
Salt and lots of black pepper
For the Pasta
Place 2 cups of flour and 1 cup of semolina in a bowl. Make a well in the center of the flour. Add eggs, water, oil, and salt. With a fork stir the egg mixture until it starts to form a ball of dough. Then use your hands to form the dough. Add more flour if the dough is wet. Knead the pasta for 5 minutes and then cover and rest for at least 30 minutes.
Take your pasta and cut in half. Leave one half covered while you work with the other half. Take the half of the pasta with a rolling pin and roll until the dough is thin enough to fit inside the biggest setting on your pasta machine ( I use the kitchen aid attachment). Then run the pasta all the way down to the lowest setting twice. Dusting the dough with flour if it is too wet. Then on the third time run it down to the second to last setting. Again, Use a little flour for dusting. Then you can make any shape you want but rolling up the pasta and cutting the noodle 1/4-1/8 inch thick. I made a wide fettuccini or small pappardelle . You will only need half of the pasta dough for this recipe, you can use the other half for another recipe.
To finish,
Bring a pot of salted water to a boil. In a large saute pan add 1 tbsp of oil and the duck bacon. Render the bacon for 3-4 minutes until it starts to brown. Add the pasta to the pot and boil until the noodles float to the top (about 1-2 minutes). In a stainless steel bowl with the egg yolks and cheese, temper yolks with hot pasta water whisking continually until you have like a sauce like consistency. Strain out the pasta and add to the pan. This is the crucial point where you want to heat the eggs up but not scramble or curdle them. You might have to take the pan off the heat. Toss the pastas and sauce all around, season with salt and lots of black pepper. I like to add a little green onion too. Taste the pasta and adjust if need be. The sauce should just coast everything. Immediately place in bowls, garnish with parmesan, green onion, and the last bits of the bacon. Serve and enjoy!
