Italian cuisine somehow quietly and unobtrusively conquered the whole world. This is probably due to the fact that her dishes are universal. They suit everyone's taste: from an absolutely undemanding person to an inveterate gourmet. Thanks to Italian cooking, pasta ceased to be boring daily routine and acquired the status of a respected dish. Especially if carbonara pasta is served on the table : a recipe with ham and cream ensures that the dinner will be tasty and spicy.
Tasty carbonara
Initially, the dish was prepared in a completely different way than we used to. Firstly, for the sauce was used smoked and well-salted cheek, made according to a special recipe. It was called guanchile. People who did not eat meat replaced it with sun-dried tomatoes, zucchini and other vegetables. Secondly, sheep’s, well-seasoned cheese: pecorino romano was included in the sauce for carbonara pasta . In addition to being extremely difficult to find in Russian open spaces, the product has a very specific taste, even for Italians accustomed to it. Thirdly, there was no cream in the original recipe. So the consistency of the dish was more thick and tough.
However, they want to feast on everyone. Therefore, an “adapted” carbonara paste was invented . The ham and cream recipe is easy to make, and its ingredients are available in any country. And the taste has become more pleasant and soft, without the fragrance of lamb. According to the rules, the cheese component should be parmesan. But in fact, you can take your favorite option from hard varieties.
Carbonara pasta: recipe with ham and cream
The cooking steps are simple. Even a novice hostess can master them:
- A few cloves of garlic are finely chopped. Italians do not recommend crushing.
- A quarter kilo of ham is cut very medium-sized - in cubes or straws.
- First, garlic is not fried for long - only until a smell appears. You need to do this in olive oil. But you can float and sunflower, only unflavored.
- The ham is then poured and fried until the fat is melted.
- A pack of spaghetti is being cooked in parallel. The time spent on this process is less than a minute than is marked on the package so that the pasta is al dente.
- At the same time, sauce is prepared for carbonara paste . 4 yolks are mixed in a bowl (the proteins are removed), half a glass of fatter cream, pepper and 50 grams of finely grated cheese. No need to beat!
- The sauce mixes with hot spaghetti - it should "reach" a little to their temperature.
The last ham is laid on top . This beauty is sprinkled with parsley or basil and eaten immediately: when cooled, it will no longer be carbonara paste. A recipe with ham and cream, by the way, allows the use of bacon, bacon, smoked brisket and other delicacies. The only condition is that the meat component does not have too bright a taste, otherwise it will clog the notes of sauce. If you are interested in the simplest recipe for carbonara pasta with ham, you can simply exclude eggs from the list of components. Only they usually deliver grief to inexperienced housewives, curling up in lumps. Although, of course, the taste will be a little different.
Personal version
Each mistress has their own carbonara paste. A homemade recipe can include a wide variety of spices, selected according to family preferences. But there are also frequent additional ingredients that are not provided for in the original recipe. One of the most interesting ideas is considered mushroom.
Ham is cut similar to the first recipe. The second component is prepared immediately: a can of canned mushrooms is opened, decanted and squeezed out a little. In a frying pan at first very briefly the mushroom straw is allowed. As soon as she begins to acquire a "tan", ham is poured. While everything is fried, spaghetti is boiled. At the moment when the meat becomes a little ruddy, cream is poured - a third of a liter per 200 grams of ham. When stirring, they evaporate to a certain thickening. Then pepper, salt is added, but yolks are not needed. Better season with Italian herbs. The final touch is the assembly of the dish. Pasta is laid out with a nest, sauce is poured into the middle, everything is generously sprinkled with grated cheese.
Taste Harmony
It is important not only to prepare the dish, but also to serve it correctly. Italians often pour raw yolk directly into a plate. Be sure to sprinkle with black pepper and fresh herbs on top. As a complement - a vegetable salad seasoned not with sour cream, but with oil. The best drink for the dish will be dry wine, certainly red.
Tips from the authors of the dish
For a successful embodiment of the recipe, it is worth considering some subtleties. Firstly, the sauce hardens rather quickly, and tastes extremely hot. And the heating does not tolerate. So carbonara paste is laid out on heated plates. Secondly, before adding cream to the sauce, they should also be slightly warmed up. But not much so that the yolks do not curl. Thirdly, to obtain a characteristic bright yellow tint of gravy, the yolks are separated from the proteins four hours before preparation, added and covered with food polyethylene.