Cookerati

La Cucina – The Regional Cooking of Italy is a book filled with recipes and history.  I made Spaghetti Alla Carbonara from the Lazio Region of Italy where Rome is (at least that’s what the map shows). Here’s what they had to say about this recipe:

Is Spaghetti Alla Carbonara an authentic Italian dish?  One school of though traces it back to a Neapolitan recipe that supposedly(no details survive) called for cheese and beaten eggs.  Another school attributes the recipe to the presence of American GIs in Italy at the end of World War 11.  These soldiers were in the habit of taking their daily rations to local restaurants, where the cooks combined them with Italian foods to create hearty “American-style” meals.

Ingredients:

• 1 lb spaghetti
• 2 tbsp extra-virgin olive oil
• 3 oz guanciale (or pancetta) cut in strips
• 2 large eggs beaten
• 2/3 cup of grated peccorino or Parmigiano-Reggiano(or a combination of both)
• Salt and freshly ground pepper
• Parsley (not in the recipe, I added it for color – because I wanted to)

Directions:

Cook the spaghetti in lightly salted boiling water.  Meanwhile in a large pan heat the olive oil and cook the pancetta; when it is browned remove the pan from the heat.  Season the eggs with salt, 2 tablespoons cheese, and a generous amount of pepper to taste.  When the pasta is cooked, drain and put it in the pan with the pancetta, heat on a low flame, and add the eggs.  Mix for a few seconds then remove from the heat, combine with the remaining cheese, mix again and serve hot.