Ever since meeting Leo Maniaci and reading Italian cookbooks in earnest, the idea of “less is more” has grown on me almost to a fetish. Every time I attempt a very simple easy pasta recipe, grilled meat, or simple sauce, the results become more profound. Pasta Carbonara made in the simplest way is among the best I’ve experienced.

Alice knows what I like and brought to me a recipe the other day that by virtue of its simplicity and number of ingredients (six if you don’t count salt and pepper) she figured I’d jump at the chance to make. It just so happens that on our last trip to Stella Market in Windsor, she purchased a chunk of guanciale which is the same as pancetta but from the jowl instead of the belly. We had never had it before but it will be our new go to lardon. I definitely like it for pasta better than pancetta or even Tennessee bacon. The recipe is just too easy and absolutely fool proof. The original recipe was in Tastes of italia magazine. I took a few shortcuts making it even easier and more fool proof.

INGREDIENTS:

Pasta (about 5-6 ounces for 2 people) Guanciale, Pancetta or bacon (about a 1/4 lb. or more, if you wish) Butter as needed Grated Parmesan/Pecorino Romano Cheese (1/2 to 1 cup depending on how fluffy your grater leaves it) Egg (One Jumbo or two large) Salt and Pepper to taste Parsley chopped (1/4 cup or more, Cilantro can be mixed in too)

Cook pasta in a covered pot with only a cup or so of salted, oiled water in excess of what will be absorbed by the pasta. This was one of my shortcuts that our old friend Gene Picciotti had gleaned from an old Spanish recipe and had suggested this method to me years ago. His reasoning was that if you need one cup of pasta water after it has absorbed as much as it can, why cook the pasta in a quart and throw half of it away? By using just the amount of water you need to cook the pasta along with whatever you wish to have left to loosen the cooked pasta, the resulting pasta water will be denser, starchier, tastier and require less cheese to thicken slightly. The first time you do this, err on the side of too much water. No sin to throw a little bit of water away* but dry crunchy pasta is a sin!

Meanwhile, chop the guanciale into small dice sized pieces and brown it in a large frying pan. When it is nicely browned, allow the pan to cool down a bit, discard about half of the grease and replace it with butter. The recipe doesn’t say to do this, but the sheer volume of grease just seemed like an awful lot and so, with both Alice and I being butter lovers, I traded out about half of the grease for butter. Then add a enough of the pasta water to bathe and soften the guanciale. If using regular bacon, you don’t need to do this but most imported bacon as well as Tennessee bacon gets a bit crunchy if just fried in it’s own grease.

In a bowl mix the egg(s), salt, pepper, and half of the cheese.

When the pasta is done, if it is laying in a sloppy watery mass (not floating in an abundance of water), simply dump the entire pot into the lardons. While still steaming hot, quickly mix in the egg mixture and toss vigorously.

Serve with the remaining cheese and parsley with toasted Italian seasoned buttered bread and a nice glass of rustic red wine.

We served a bargain buster wine offered by Dave Russo at Mega Bev. I don’t remember the exact price but it was dead cheap something like $50 a six pack maybe. 2020 Capanna Rosso Del Cerro (Sangiovese) Tuscana IGT (14.5% abv) hails from a north facing hillside in Montalcino which explains why it is not Rosso di Montalcino DOC and bargain priced. What that does not explain is how they get 14.5% abv on a north face. The producer claims it is a very low yielding Sangiovese, so maybe that is why it has robust alcohol and robust aroma and flavor. Regardless of the horticulture, this is a wonderfully authentic taste of Tuscany. The depth of the aroma really pulls you into the glass with baked red fruit, the post fermentation smell of walking into a winery in the fall with the tone of a wine that has seen some oak aging. It does not smell or taste of oak but the effect on the wine is evident. The palate is bright, lively, with a slight rustic grip and fine depth though not hard, harsh or tannic. This is beautifully simple Italian country wine at its very best!

Enjoy in Good Health,

A Brian Cain, the Michigan Vintner

*I love pasta water which is why I take it so seriously and make every effort to make it as rich and useful as possible. It surprises me how many otherwise competent chefs throw away what I’d call the “Cadillac of Italian broth”. I love it so much that if I don’t use it all in the recipe, I’ve been known to sip it after dinner in a cup in lieu of coffee. Maybe it has a bad rep because it is loaded with starch and carbs. YUMM!