Pasta – Page 2 – Nat & E Homecooking

Each time we buy guanciale, we go through three dishes in a week – it’s mandatory! First, carbonara. Then, amatriciana. Then, alla gricia (but with an exaggerated amount of cheese that it becomes more like Spätzle! Here we use a wonderful type of pasta from Tesco’s Finest (USelect in Hong Kong) called fusili col buco, which literally means fusili pasta with holes. Perfect for mopping up the sauce of this delightful dish.

Serves 2

Time: 🕰🕰
Effort: 💪

Method:

1. In a large frying pan, add 3 tablespoons olive oil, garlic, and chili
2. Turn flame to medium low to infuse the flavours into the oil
3. Meanwhile, prepare a large pot of water and bring to the boil
4. Add salt to the water until it has the saltiness of a light soup
5. Put pasta in water
6. On a cutting board, cut guanciale into small cubes
7. Transfer guanciale into a small frying pan and turn heat to medium to start cooking
8. In the large frying pan, check that the garlic has turned golden but not brown
9. Remove garlic from pan
10. Wash and chop tomato into small chunks; add to large frying pan, along with fresh herbs
11. Turn heat to high to start disintegrating the tomato
12. Remove guanciale from the small frying pan; set aside
13. Tip the remaining guanciale oil into the large frying pan with the tomatoes
14. Add 3 ladles of pasta cooking water and tomato concentrate
15. Cut one of the garlic cloves into thin slices and add to the large frying pan
16. Stir actively until a creamy sauce is formed
17. Strain pasta and add to the pan
18. Add more pasta cooking water and a tiny bit of olive oil as needed, to further thicken the sauce
19. Once sauce has combined well with pasta, remove from flame
20. Divide pasta into plates
21. Add the guanciale on top
22. Sprinkle with pecorino and coarse-ground black pepper
23. Garnish with the chilli from the pan, which should now be slightly burned and fragrant

Farfalle alla Carbonara

This dish is every homecook’s dream: simple ingredients, high repeatability, and oh-so-satisfying results! The key is good eggs, good guanciale, and good pasta. Guanciale (guancia = cheek in Italian) is an increasingly available ingredient in Hong Kong deli counters. The key here is to understand that the creaminess doesn’t just come from the eggs, but the thickening (“manticatura”) of water, starch, and oils from the guanciale. The yolks act almost as an emulsifier.

Serves 2

Time: 🕰
Effort: 💪💪

Ingredients:

1 slice of guanciale from an Italian deli counter
2 egg yolks
240g pasta (this is definitely the occasion to be generous!)
1 handful pecorino romano, grated
1 handful parmiggiano reggiano, grated
Black pepper

Method:

1. Bring a pot of water to an active boil
2. Add enough salt to water so that it has the saltiness of a light soup
3. Put pasta (traditionally, spaghetti) into the boiling water
4. Slice guanciale into strips
5. Add guanciale to a pan and bring to medium heat
6. Attention: no need add oil to the pan. The guanciale will sweat out enough fat for this dish
7. While the guanciale cooks, separate eggs to into whites and yolks; reserve whites for mask or another dish
8. Add the two cheeses to the egg yolk
9. Add around 4 turns if black pepper
10. Mix with spoon until a smooth and soft paste is formed
11. The guanciale should now be warmed up; turn up heat to high to crisp up the outside, around 20 seconds
12. Carefully remove guanciale strips and set aside, leaving behind the valuable fat
13. Add 2 ladles of pasta water to the guanciale fat and cook on medium-high heat, until enough water evaporates to form a creamy pasta water sauce
14. Check doneness of pasta
15. If ok, drain and tip pasta into the pan containing the pasta water sauce
16. Stir pasta actively on medium heat until pasta is well coated with the pasta water sauce
17. Remove pan from heat
18. Add the egg and cheese paste into the pasta
19. Actively fold the paste into the pasta, until that fragrant, classic carbonara sauce is formed
20. After plating, the pasta is likely to absorb some sauce, hence it would be good to add one additional tablespoon of pasta water at this point and mix, if you feel the pasta risks drying out at the table
21. Add a small handful of parmiggiano and give one last mix
22. Divide into warm plates
23. Garnish with guanciale strips on top
24. (Alternatively, dice up the strips and mix into the pasta)
25. Finish the dish with one final turn of black pepper