Recipe for "carbonara-2"

NAME

     CARBONARA-2 - Spaghetti with raw eggs and Italian bacon
     While there are innumerable minor variations in the way peo-
     ple  make  this celebrated Roman dish, there are really only
     two substantially different schools of thought.   One  main-
     tains  that pancetta, a mild, cured, unsmoked Italian bacon,
     is the only correct bacon to use.  The other school  insists
     on the smoked American variety.  Both are good, and both are
     popular in Italy, but the version I prefer is the  one  with
     pancetta.   The  flavor  of  smoke is not usually associated
     with Italian food; certainly hardly  ever  outside  of  Alto
     Adige,  a  German-speaking region in the North that was once
     part of Austria.  In this dish, I  find  that  smoked  bacon
     adds  a  sharpness  that  wearies the palate after the first
     bitefuls.  Try it both ways, and decide for yourself.

INGREDIENTS ()

     250 g     pancetta or bacon
     30 ml     olive oil
     15 ml     butter
     4         garlic cloves, peeled and lightly crushed
     60 ml     dry white wine
               salt
     500 g     package thin spaghetti
     3         eggs
     50 g      freshly grated Peccorino romano cheese
     100 g     freshly grated Parmesan cheese
               freshly ground black pepper
     30 ml     parsley, chopped fine.

PROCEDURE

          (1)  Cut the pancetta or bacon into thin strips.
          (2)  Put the oil, butter and crushed garlic into a sau-
               cepan  or small saute pan, and turn on the heat to
               medium high.  When the garlic  becomes  colored  a
               deep gold, remove and discard it.
          (3)  Put the pancetta or bacon into the pan, and saut e
               until it begins to be crisp at the edges.
          (4)  Add the wine, and let it boil away for a minute or
               two; then turn off the heat.
          (5)  In a large pot, bring 4-5 liters water to a  boil.
               Add 30-40 ml salt, and when the water returns to a
               boil, put in the spaghetti.
          (6)  Take the bowl from which  you'll  be  serving  the
               spaghetti later, and into it break the three eggs.
               Beat them lightly, then mix into them both  grated
               cheeses,  a  liberal  grinding  of pepper, and the
               parsley.
          (7)  When the spaghetti is tender but firm to the bite,
               drain  it,  and  put it into the serving bowl with
               the  egg-and-cheese  mixture.   toss  rapidly  and
               thoroughly until it is well coated.
          (8)  Reheat the pancetta or  bacon  quickly  over  high
               heat,  then  pour  the  entire contents of the pan
               over the spaghetti.  Toss  again  thoroughly,  and
               serve immediately.

RATING

     Difficulty: moderate.  Time: 20 minutes.  Precision: Approx-
     imate measurement OK.

CONTRIBUTOR

     Katherine Rives Albitz
     Hewlett-Packard, Ft. Collins, Colorado, USA
     hplabs!hpfcla!hpcnof!k_albitz