Are you on holiday in Italy and overwhelmed by the large number of first courses? Tortellini in broth, with parmesan cheese, pasta cacio e pepe, amatriciana, carbonara, and so forth. We may be biased, but we well understand your disorientation: Italian first courses are one better than the next. Given that when we go to a restaurant we too never know which pasta to choose, we have decided to draw up a ranking of the 4 most popular Italian first courses.
Don't feel like going to a restaurant because you have booked one of our magnificent villas and want to make the most of the large kitchen?
Don't worry, we have decided to give you a recipe for a perfect carbonara to replicate at home as tomorrow will be "Carbonara Day".
1. CARBONARA First prepared in 1944 in Rome's Vicolo della Scrofa, it has become an iconic dish of Italian tradition. The story goes that the cook had only a few ingredients at his disposal and had to prepare a satiating dish for the American soldiers. The result was the prototype of spaghetti alla carbonara: eggs, bacon (later guanciale) and cheese. Gradually the recipe evolved into the one we all know today and can enjoy at the homes of true (and voracious!) Roman friends, in trattorias as well as in the capital's starred restaurants.
The recipe:
- 320 g spaghetti
- 5 yolks
- 150 g guanciale
- 70 g pecorino romano
Ps. choose the right ingredients, parmesan cheese is not an ingredient in Carbonara.
Preparation:
1. Put a large pot with water on the stove and bring it to the boil
2. In the meantime, dice the bacon and brown it in a non-stick frying pan. When it has released plenty of sauce, turn off the heat.
3. When the water boils, throw in the spaghetti.
4. While the pasta is cooking, beat the egg yolks with the pecorino cheese, pepper and the fat from the pork cheek from the frying pan. The mixture should have the consistency of a yoghurt, if too thick add cooking water in small doses.
5. Transfer the guanciale to a plate and drain the pasta al dente in the frying pan with the guanciale sauce, cook over a medium flame for 1 minute.
6. Remove the pan from the heat and leave it to cool for 1 minute.
7. Add eggs and bacon
8. Serve with a sprinkle of pepper
2. PASTA AL PESTO The recipe for pesto dates back to the mid-19th century. The ancient recipe is as follows: 'Take a clove of garlic, basil or, failing that, marjoram and parsley, grated Dutch cheese and Parmesan cheese mixed together, and pound it all in a mortar with a little butter until it is reduced to a paste. Then melt it with plenty of fine oil. Use this mixture to dress lasagne and gnocchi (trofie), adding a little hot water without salt to make it more liquid'.
Are you curious to discover a modern-day recipe? Look forward to our next article.
3. PASTA AL POMODORO
Simple, fragrant and always a guarantee. Pasta al pomodoro is the Italians' comfort food par excellence. Hungry kids coming home from school? Sudden hunger? Nothing a good pasta with tomato sauce and fresh basil can't solve.
