Pasta Gemma Italian American
Sometimes a picture just says umami
Who doesn’t like pasta? I can’t say no to something a little different.
Time: 1 hour
Difficulty: 1/5
Ingredient Availability: 4/5
I don’t think the name of this recipe is very popular, so you might not really know what to expect from it. While there is a little story about the recipe in Italian American, after reading the recipe, it’s pretty clear that this is somewhat a variation of a carbonara. Eggs and cheese are whisked together and added to pasta while stirring to create a creamy sauce. Carbonara might be my favorite pasta dish, so it’ll be interesting to see how this compares.
Key Ingredients and Omissions:
Nothing Here is too crazy
This is another recipe where the ingredients are pretty simple and pared back. This recipe loses a point on ingredient availability because it suggest bucatini, which is harder to find than, say, spaghetti. I’ll also point out that I used elephant garlic, so I used only 6 cloves instead of 10 normal cloves.
Tools:
Whisk
Cooking Review:
Prep: 20 minutes
To prep for this recipe, I chopped the garlic, shredded the cheese, chopped the green onion, and squeezed a lemon. The prep definitely makes the rest of the cook a lot smoother than trying to juggle everything.
Making Garlic-Oil mixture while Pasta cooks: 30 minutes
Before I put a pot of water on the stove to boil, I whisked the cheese and eggs together. While I waited for the pasta water to boil, I made the garlic and oil mixture by heating olive oil in a small pan and adding the ground pepper, smoked paprika, and garlic. I only let this cook for about 2 minutes before removing from the heat. When the salted pasta water came to a boil, I added the bucatini and cooked it for 8 minuted before I reserved a cup of the water and draining.
Finishing: 10 minutes
I added the cup of pasta water back to the pasta and stirred in the garlic-oil mixture. I then turned the heat to medium low as I added the egg-cheese mixture slowly, mixing constantly and vigorously. It took about 4 minutes to add all the egg mixture and stir until creamy. I removed the pot from the heat and added the green onion and lemon juice to finish this dish.
Analysis:
This was a very creamy and smooth pasta, which certainly reminds me of a carbonara. The paprika and pepper added a slight spiciness, which paired nicely with the overall creaminess and freshness from the green onion. With how much garlic is present, you will definitely notice it, which I don’t mind. As far as the cheese goes, I wouldn’t say that this is super cheesy, but you can notice the cheese is there from some of the more tangy notes. The texture of this dish has some interest, as well. The green onion provides a slight crisp crunch; the noodles have a nice bite and chew; the sauce ties it all together with its creamy smoothness. It sounds all good, I don’t think this flavor profile is my favorite. A carbonara is much simpler all together, but I prefer the flavor of that to this. I’m not saying it’s bad. This dish is good. However, a dish with these elements would get a higher score, but to me the combination doesn’t seem quite right. With that being said, I’ll give this recipe a 7/10. It’s definitely worth trying to see of you like it. It’s very easy to make and is probably going to be a new flavor profile for you.
