One of the reasons that I love carbonara is the pasta! Bucatini is long, thick pasta with a hole running through the center. The hole allows the pasta to soak up the sauce.
Carbonara is traditionally made with guanciale (cured pork) but I like to make it with crispy prosciutto which is easier to find in my local grocery store.
Carbonara is one of the four classic Italian pasta dishes tied to Roman cuisine (Cacio de Pepe, Gricia, Carbonara and Amatriciana.
Crispy Proscuitto Carbonara
Equipment
- 2 oven-proof pasta dishes
- frying pan
- tongs
Ingredients
- 1/2 pound bucatini pasta reserve water from cooking pasta and keep warm
- 4 tablespoons Olivelle Sweet Butter Infused Olive Oil
- 2 large garlic cloves, minced
- 1 shallot, chopped
- 3 ounces sliced prosciutto, chopped into small pieces
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
- 2 teaspoons lemon juice
- 1/4 cup + 2 tablespoons warm pasta water
- 2 eggs
- 2 cups finely grated parmesan cheese
- 1/2 cup warm pasta water
- finely chopped parsley for garnish
Instructions
- Cook bucatini pasta in boiling salted water for 12 minutes. Reserve cooking water when you drain the pasta.
- Place oven-proof pasta dishes in a very low oven to warm while preparing pasta.
- Place sweet butter infused olive oil in a large frying pan. Heat over medium low heat.
- Add garlic to hot oil and cook, stirring, until garlic is beginning to turn very light brown. Add shallots. Stir and cook until shallots are opaque.
- Add prosciutto and stir. Cook until the prosciutto is crispy, about 3 to 5 minutes.
- Add salt, pepper and lemon juice. Stir.
- Add pasta to the frying pan with 1/4 cup warm pasta water. Use tongs to toss the pasta with the garlic, shallots and prosciutto.
- Break two eggs into a bowl. Whisk with a fork. Add 2 tablespoons warm pasta water. Stir briskly. Add parmesan cheese and stir.
- Add egg and parmesan mixture to the pasta in frying pan. Add 1/2 cup warm pasta water. Toss with tongs to coat the pasta with the prosciutto and parmesan cheese mixture.
- Serve immediately in warmed pasta bowls, garnished with finely chopped parsley.
