Use a Homemade Steam Boiler for Reliable Carbonara Paste
Emulsifying hard cheese and pasta water into a perfectly smooth sauce is essentially a pasta thermodynamics course for graduates. The pan should be hot enough to melt the cheese evenly, but not hot enough to set — or, in the case of carbonara pasta, you’ll end up with a large bowl of omelette.
Carbonara recipes usually get around the egg problem when you toss the ingredients into a large bowl, relying on the heat from freshly cooked pasta and water to thicken the sauce. It never worked for me, even when I used my trusty blender . Carbonara sauce isn’t just cheese and pasta, it’s more like custard. And why on earth would you try to make custard with residual heat when steamers exist? You already have a pot of water for the pasta; Stick the bowl on top and you’ve got the perfect steamer for a silky-smooth carbonara. Here’s how to do it.
(A quick side note: make sure you find the right combination of pasta pot and ovenproof bowl before boiling water. The bowl should sit snugly on the pot without touching the water; if your regular pasta pot is too wide to hold a mixing bowl, use a large saucepan instead.)
Always start with bacon (or guanciale if you’re lucky enough to have it), which takes at least 10 minutes to process properly over medium to low heat. While this is happening, bring a saucepan of salted water to a boil and whisk the sauce ingredients in a wide, heat-resistant bowl. For about 8 ounces of dried rigatoni, I used 1/4 pound bacon, one whole egg, 3 egg yolks, 1 1/2 cups grated Parmesan, and a heaping tablespoon of chopped black pepper.
When the pork is crispy and ready to eat, dip the pasta in boiling water. About two minutes before it’s cooked to your liking, place the bowl directly on the saucepan and beat vigorously for 30 seconds or a minute, until the cheese melts and the yolks begin to thicken.
Drain the pasta – leaving some water of course – pour it into a bowl and discard. Add a little cooking water and a few spoons of pork until the texture is right, add crispy pork pieces and head out into town.
To be honest, until now I have never been so excited about a homemade carbonara. My latest try – the B * n App * t * t recipe – made the rigatoni float in a puddle of undercooked egg yolks, which I didn’t like. But the carbonara steamer fucks . The sauce is ridiculously silky, and because you need so little water to make the pasta, it’s also richer and cheesier than any other version I’ve tried. In short, it’s perfect – and it’s as easy as shelling pears to do it.