Blt Pasta Carbonara Recipes

BLT-STYLE CARBONARA PASTA

Steps:

• Bring a large pot of water to a boil
• Score an X into tomato skin, place in boiling water to a count of 30, then remove to a bowl of ice water with tongs or spider
• Peel, seed and chop tomato and reserve
• Salt boiling water and cook pasta to al dente
• Heads up: you will need some starchy cooking water to temper the egg yolks, so reserve a cup or so before draining pasta
• Meanwhile, heat a pan over medium to medium-high heat with EVOO
• Add bacon, speck or pancetta, and cook until almost crisp
• Add leeks, garlic and chili, stir a couple of minutes then add wine and reduce by half
• Add parsley and tomatoes, and reduce heat to low
• When pasta is about ready, add about 1/2 cup starchy water to the eggs while beating them with a fork to temper them
• Toss pasta with bacon and eggs, turn off heat, then toss vigorously a full minute, using more starchy water if the pasta tightens up (the yolks should cover pasta smoothly)
• Serve with Pecorino at the table for passing

BLT PASTA CARBONARA

Steps:

• Heat oil in a large skillet over medium heat. Add bacon; cook, stirring occasionally until crisp and fat has rendered, 5 to 7 minutes. Remove bacon using a slotted spoon and set aside. Pour bacon fat into a small bowl and set aside, but do not wash the skillet.
• Bring a large pot of lightly salted water to a boil.
• Mix Parmesan cheese, eggs, egg yolk, and 1/8 teaspoon black pepper together in a bowl.
• Cook elbow macaroni in the boiling water, stirring occasionally, until tender yet firm to the bite, about 8 minutes. Drain into a colander set over a large, heatproof bowl. Reserve 1 cup of the cooking water and pour the rest out, keeping the now-heated bowl in place.
• Return 1 teaspoon reserved bacon fat to the large skillet over medium heat. Add garlic and cook until fragrant, about 30 seconds. Cook 30 seconds more and add tomatoes. Cook, stirring occasionally, until heated through but not falling apart, about 5 minutes. Stir in spinach.
• Add cooked bacon, cooked tomato mixture, and cooked pasta to the heated bowl. Whisk 1/2 cup of the reserved cooking water into the egg mixture. Pour this over the pasta mixture in the bowl and toss for 3 minutes. Thin sauce if necessary by adding additional reserved cooking water. Season with salt and pepper. Serve immediately with additional Parmesan cheese.

CHEF JOHN'S BLT PASTA

Steps:

• Pour olive oil into a heavy skillet over medium heat, add bacon, and cook until almost crisp, 5 to 8 minutes. Turn off heat. Hold a paper towel with tongs and mop up excess bacon grease with the paper towel, leave about 2 teaspoons bacon grease in the skillet.
• Stir minced garlic and lemon zest into bacon in the skillet and let cook in residual heat until fragrant, 2 to 3 minutes. Stir creme fraiche into bacon mixture.
• Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil and stir in 2 cups of ditalini. Cook till tender, about 8 minutes. Drain and add pasta to the skillet. Stir pasta thoroughly into bacon and creme fraiche mixture.
• Return skillet to medium heat. Add tomatoes; cook and stir until slightly softened, about 1 minute. Mix in arugula, stirring until wilted, about 30 seconds, and turn off heat.
• Season with salt, black pepper, and cayenne pepper. Stir again and garnish with Parmesan cheese.

BLT PASTA

Steps:

• Bring a large pot of well-salted water (2 heaping tablespoons kosher salt to about 7 quarts water) to a boil. Add pasta and cook until it is just under al dente, 1 minute less than package directions. Reserve 1 cup of the pasta cooking water, and drain the pasta.
• Meanwhile, make the sauce: Place the bacon in a large skillet and cook over medium-low heat until crisp, stirring occasionally to make sure it does not burn, about 8 minutes. Remove with a slotted spoon and set aside on a plate lined with paper towels. Turn heat to medium and add the tomatoes to the skillet, tossing them to coat in the bacon fat. Season with salt and pepper. As the moisture from the tomatoes releases, scrape any browned bits that have accumulated at the bottom of the pan (add a few tablespoons of the pasta water if you need to) and continue to cook until the tomatoes begin to fall apart, about 5 to 7 minutes more. Add half the cooked bacon back to the skillet and toss to combine.
• Increase the heat to medium-high and add the pasta directly to the skillet tossing to coat with the sauce. Add the arugula and 1/4 cup of the pasta water and carefully toss (you'll have a very full pan) until the arugula wilts. Add the cheese and an additional 1/4 cup pasta water and toss together until the cheese emulsifies and the pasta is glossy with sauce. If needed, add another 1/4 cup pasta water to loosen the sauce.
• Serve in bowls and top with remaining bacon. Pass the grated Pecorino Romano at the table and season with flaky salt, if desired.