Good Friday food, easy and quick to make.
Tips and variations
- Fry the Parmasticks in a dry pan over medium heat until crisp and golden — they contain enough fat that they don’t need any oil.
- Chop them roughly and scatter over just before serving so they keep their crunch.
- A pinch of chilli flakes in the sauce gives a nice contrast to the salty flavour from the sticks.
- Add a handful of baby spinach or smoked salmon to the sauce for a light upgrade.
- Always save a little pasta water — the starch binds the sauce and gives a more even texture.
🍷 Wine tips
Barbera d’Asti / Prosecco — Pasta with crispy Parmasticks and sage pairs well with a Barbera d’Asti — fruity and fresh. Alternatively, a good Prosecco as a festive accompaniment: the bubbles play beautifully against the fatty, salty Parma flavours.
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Ingredients
Method
- Bring out the meat and let it reach room temperature
- Parmasticks: Divide the slices into 2-3 strips lengthwise. Fry quickly in a dry Teflon pan
- Roughly chop the onion and let it fry in butter without it getting colored for a few minutes, add cream and mustard, let it cook for a few minutes.
- Boil the pasta and pour over the cream with the onion and stir together. Cut the tenderloin into 2-3 cm pieces, fry them with salt and pepper
- Serving: Put pasta on the plate, spread the meat and garnish with parmasticks. Feel free to make a good salad.
Nutrition
Tried this recipe?
Let us know how it was!FAQ
No, authentic Roman pasta carbonara contains no cream. The creamy sauce comes entirely from a mixture of eggs, pecorino romano cheese, and starchy pasta water emulsified together off the heat.
Spaghetti is the most traditional choice for carbonara, but rigatoni and rigatoni are also widely used in Rome. The pasta should be cooked al dente so it holds up to the rich egg sauce.
Remove the pan from heat before adding the egg mixture and work quickly off the heat. Add pasta water little by little while tossing to create a creamy emulsion without cooking the eggs.