Serious Eats: Recipes
With Eggs, Bacon, and Parmesan, You Just Can't Go Wrong
When I have a craving for a really decadent dish—macaroni and cheese, say, or rice pudding—I prefer to make it for myself as opposed to ordering it in a restaurant. This is for two reasons: first, I think that rich, comforting foods are best enjoyed at home; second, when I am the cook, I am in control of the specific ingredients and the portion sizes. The end result is, I believe, always a little bit healthier.
For this week's magazine recipe review I made the orecchiette carbonara with leeks from the April issue of Bon Appétit. Spaghetti carbonara is something I would never eat out, for fear of popping a button off my pants in public. There is just no way to tell how much butter, oil, and bacon fat is being used. I was drawn to the version in Bon Appétit because it didn't use heavy cream (unlike some less traditional carbonaras), and because it called for fresh, seasonal leeks. Also, I happened to have a lot of eggs on hand.
I stuck to the recipe as best I could, though I couldn't find applewood-smoked bacon (I used high-quality slab) or orecchiette (I used shells). Still, the end results were absolutely outstanding. The carbonara was definitely creamy and cheesy, yet it was also somehow light—more like a dressing than a sauce. The leeks added a refreshing green note, and the bacon was smoky, crunchy, and meaty. Shells are already my favorite pasta shape (I think they're the most playful) and in this dish they were perfect, cradling the egg and cheese in their concave centers.
While it may not have been as wholesome as tofu or as low-cal as a tossed salad, this version of carbonara was definitely the most nutritious of all that I've tried. I didn't feel weighed down or over-stuffed after eating a modest bowl, and I even had room for a sorbet sundae dessert.
About the author: Lucy Baker is a graduate student in the writing program at Sarah Lawrence College. Before returning to school to pursue an MFA, she was an assistant cookbook editor at HarperCollins. She lives in Brooklyn and is currently obsessed with all things fennel.