Pasta Car-BOO-nara
For this Halloween, I wanted to do something fun, something that looked a bit gory while tasting delicious, and I think I have done just that.
I am making what I am officially calling Pasta car-BOO-nara, essentially carbonara that’s given a somewhat spooky, Halloween appearance. My thought process is to make a black garlic pasta dough suspended in a classic carbonara sauce that’s had spinach blended into it for a vibrant green color, making it somewhat resemble worms inside toxic sludge.
Black garlic is a fermented garlic that has a very soft texture while having a sweet, somewhat funky flavor, and is way less potent than fresh garlic so you can use a lot more of it.
It might look and sound gross, but believe me it will still taste amazing.
Makes 4 servings
For the Pasta dough:
2 heads of black garlic
400g (14oz) 00 flour or all purpose flour, plus more for dusting
4 eggs
1 tbsp activated charcoal powder for color (optional)
Salt, for the pasta water
For the car-BOO-nara sauce
8oz finely diced pancetta or guanciale
4 large eggs
4 egg yolks
5oz baby spinach leaves
2 tbsp coarse ground black pepper, plus more for dusting
1/2 cup finely grated Pecorino Romano, plus more for serving
1/2 cup finely grated Parmigiano Reggiano, plus more for serving
To make the pasta dough, remove the black garlic cloves from their skins and use a fork to smash into a paste. Add this to a food processor along with your flour, eggs and charcoal powder (if using). Pulse until a stiff dough forms, then dump onto a floured surface and knead until smooth and elastic.
Cut the dough into 4 and use a pasta roller or rolling pin to roll the pasta into long, thin sheets, keeping any dough you’re not working with wrapped in plastic wrap. Cut each sheet into 1/2-inch strands, though it doesn’t have to be exact.
Bring a wide saucepan of salted water to a simmer and get the pancetta into a wide skillet over medium low heat. Cook for about 10 minutes, or until the pancetta is brown and crispy. Remove with a slotted spoon and set aside.
While the pancetta browns, clean out your food processor then add in the eggs, yolks and spinach. Run the food processor until it is very smooth, for at least 3 minutes, then add the pepper, Pecorino and Parmigiano and pulse into a thick paste. Slowly drizzle in about 1/4 cup of the rendered pancetta fat and pulse to combine.
When the pancetta is done and the water is hot, add the pasta to the water and let it cook for about 2 minutes, or until it floats to the surface. Remove the pasta with tongs or drain into a separate pot to keep that water, then transfer the pasta to the pan used for the pancetta.
Add about 1/2 cup of pasta water to the egg mixture, pulse to combine, then add to the pan with the pasta. Take the pan off the heat and begin twirling the pasta and mixture together until the sauce thickens and coats the pasta beautifully, adding more pasta water if you notice it begin to curdle.
Once the sauce is set, stir the pancetta back in, then serve, topping with even more cheese and a dusting of black pepper.
Happy Halloween!
