Carbonara

We've been watching Jamie Oliver's "Jamie at Home" show on Food Network, which goes along with his same-named book, which I LOVE LOVE LOVE. I haven't cooked a ton out of it, but it's a nicely organized (by season, then by veggie/fruit) book with BEAUTIFUL pictures, AND each section is followed by Jamie's tips on how to grow each fruit/vegetable. (I DO have SOME issues with this part since I had the impression he's only been gardening for a couple years now...so he may not have a ton of experience. I figure many of the tips are actually from his gardener. Yes, he has a gardener.)

Anyhow, watching his show is definitely inspiring me to try some new stuff with the veggies coming out of the garden. I love that his tomato and squash (aka courgette) episodes are airing while I've got the same veggies pouring out of the garden in droves.

While watching his squash episode, I was DROOOOOLING over his carbonara recipe. I don't have the recipe on me, and don't recall exact measurements now (let's just say it made WAY more than I needed, and Brett was picking the squash out of his), but it goes something like this...

Cut up about 12 slices of bacon and fry them up in a pan. Add to the bacon a ton of green zucchini and yellow summer squash (I think the recipe called for 2 medium zucchini and 2 medium summer squash?). To prepare the squash cut off the ends, slice in half lengthwise, slice each of those halves in half again (lengthwise), run the knife down their length to cut out the seedy interior (probably not really necessary), and then cut on the bias - you're basically cutting them to roughly the size/shape of the pasta you'll be adding. Salt and pepper, going heavy on the pepper for extra flavor.


Once the squash has gotten a bit tender, dump in the pasta you should've been cooking alongside (DON'T DUMP THE WATER!). Also add a ladelful of the cooking water.


Cook it up a bit more - looking good now, hunh!?


And then, VOILA! It looks perfect like this!


Wait, no actually, that's not quite right.

First you'll add some thyme leaves. You then take it off the heat and add a mixture of something like 4 eggs and a half cup of cream that you've whisked together, plus add another ladelful or two of pasta water to make a nice, smooth, creamy sauce. You MUST stir the whole thing rapidly so you don't get clumping, AND you're SUPPOSED to have taken the pan off the heat before adding the cream/egg combo, and this combination of skills and timing will make a nice, creamy sauce.

Yeah, whatever:


Mine got kinda clumpy. The eggs scrambled. I DID have the heat turned off, and I stirred fast, but 1) maybe not fast enough and 2) maybe I should've let it cool a bit more first? While this dish didn't LOOK picture perfect, it sure did taste good! I should definitely give this another try soon... It does use up a fair amount of squash, and it's not the unhealthiest of dishes (four eggs and a half cup of cream? That's not too bad! Plus I used whole wheat pasta!)

Mmmm...it's making me hungry!