Smoked Gouda Carbonara

Smoked Gouda Carbonara - made October 22, 2021 from Food and Wine 

1 pound spaghetti

5 large egg yolks

1 large egg

1 cup (4 ounces) finely shredded Gouda, plus more for serving

kosher salt

black pepper

1 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil

6 ounces slab bacon, finely diced

3/4 teaspoon crushed red pepper

1. In a large pot of salted boiling water, cook the pasta until al dente. Drain, reserving 1 cup of the cooking water.
2. In a large bowl, beat the egg yolks with the whole egg, the 1 cup of Gouda, 1/2 teaspoon of salt and 2 teaspoons of black pepper. Very gradually whisk in 1/2 cup of the reserved cooking water to temper the eggs.
3. In the large pot, heat the olive oil. Add the bacon and cook over moderate heat until rendered but not crisp, 5 to 7 minutes. Add the pasta, crushed red pepper and 1/4 cup of the reserved pasta cooking water.
4. Cook, tossing, until the pasta is coated, 1 to 2 minutes. Scrape the pasta mixture into the large bowl and toss vigorously until creamy, 1 to 2 minutes. Add more cooking water if needed. Season with salt and pepper. Divide the pasta into bowls and serve, adding more Gouda as desired.

I think I almost broke my arm patting myself on the back on how well this turned out. And before you think that's quite immodest, remember my cooking skills are very rudimentary. Which is a nice-to-myself way of saying not giving myself food poisoning is success. Yes, my bar is that low because, also yes, I have accidentally given myself food poisoning with a dish I once made (that "best by" date on a carton of sour cream at that time was wrong, btw). Thankfully I was the only one who ate it. But still, that's why my expectations aren't high when it comes  to cooking. 

So I was very happy that I successfully made carbonara without the eggs ending up being scrambled. This made a rich, thick sauce coating, not too much sauce but not too little either. The pasta ended up absorbing most of the sauce but it wasn't dry. Still, you might want to err on the side of using less pasta.

The key to carbonara is having everything in place so you can toss the pasta with the sauce while everything is hot. It's the heat from the just-boiled pasta and the hot pasta water tempered into the egg mixture that will cook the eggs. And by cooking, I mean thickening, not scrambling. The hot water has to be tempered into the egg mixture or you risk scrambling the eggs. The heat from the noodles should be hot enough to thicken the egg mixture if you toss them right away. Don't let them cool or the eggs won't cook enough to thicken and you'll just be left with eggy mixture and an increased risk of food poisoning. The smoked Gouda also adds a nice creaminess to the sauce.