DEB PERELMAN: Cheese,
egg, pancetta,
and pasta baked into a pie.
What more could you ask for?
Come on.
Get it.
Get a fistful!
Um.
Um.
Welcome to the Smitten Kitchen.
The first thing you
need to do is butter
a nine-inch springform pan.
Do no wait until you
cook it to find out
whether your springform leaks.
My rule is wrap the outside
tightly in foil, regardless
of whether you
bought something that
swears that it never leaks.
Just wrap it because you want
to cook this once, not twice.
You don't want to
be cooking this
and for it to end up all
over your oven floor,
and now you have
an oven to clean,
and you're still ordering
pizza for dinner.
We are going to slice
up the pancetta,
and I'm going to dice it up.
You know, you can get it
at a lot of grocery stores.
If you're really
lucky, you can get
a really beautiful piece like
this with a beautiful marbling
to it, you know?
And if you have a
choice-- I always
look for one that has
a good amount of pink
in it so it's not just all fat.
I want to have little bites
that we can bite into.
They're going to shrink up a
bit in the pan, but you know,
it's nice to have real chunks
because it's nice and salty
and adds a lot of flavor.
I love the nutty, classic
flavor of the parmesan,
and I love the salty, sharp
funkiness of the pecorino,
so I use half of each,
but you can use all of one
or all of the other if
that's all you have.
Get a large pot of boiling
water going and salt
it really well-- really well.
This is a good way
to add seasoning, so
don't skimp on it.
And then we're going to throw
in a little bit of greens
because I'm that kind of person
that likes to ruin everything
with green vegetables.
It feels much more like
a finished dish to me,
and it really makes the
whole thing a lot prettier,
seeing these green
flecks go throughout.
Now we can start our pasta.
Just use the same water.
It's a little green.
It's not going to hurt anyone.
While the pasta cooks,
we can chop our greens.
I use a towel, and I really
squeeze the extra water out.
This is important
because you don't want
your finished dish to be mushy.
We're going to chop
these greens really well
because you want it
to intersperse and mix
well with the spaghetti.
The pasta is just right,
and we're going to drain it.
I want you to start a good
two minutes shy of al dente.
If your box of pasta says
eight minutes al dente,
go ahead and check
it at six because we
want it to have a
little-- I always
think of it like a bone in it.
Now it's time to
make our custard.
We're going to use two
eggs, plus two whole yolks
because an essential
part of carbonara
is the very yellow
sauce that you get
from the richness of the yolks.
Add your milk and lots and
lots and lots of pepper.
I'm going to try
not to sneeze, but
pepper always makes me sneeze.
A little more salt, and
then add your grated cheese.
This is the mixture of
parmesan and pecorino,
and we're going to use it all
except for half a cup, which
I'm going to save for the end.
Finally, we're going to
add our drained spaghetti,
all of the greens we cooked,
all of the crispy pancetta,
and we're going to toss this
together with all of the pasta
until it's nicely coated with
the custard and the cheese
and the pancetta and the
greens, and it's all really
well intermixed.
Look how nice that looks.
Now we're going to put
the spaghetti mixture into
our buttered springform pan.
If I have a couple
minutes to kill,
I like to swirl it
around, sort of play
with my food a little bit.
It doesn't change
the tastes at all,
but it looks a little prettier
when you slice into it later.
The good news is that
even if you don't do this,
it's going to come
out really pretty.
Don't fuss if your broccoli
or pancetta has fallen
to the bottom of the bowl.
It all gets mixed again.
We're going to finish this with
that last half cup of cheese
that we put aside,
and we're going
to sprinkle it over the top,
and then it goes into the oven.
Bake at 425 degrees for
about 30 to 40 minutes,
then remove it from the
springform and serve.
Look how beautiful this is.
I love how bronzed and gorgeous
it comes out of the oven when
it looks so simple going in.
I think we're going to be eating
a lot of this this winter.
[music playing]
