A carbonara pasta that has the sweet flavor of spring: from Lazio to Veneto with the creamy and rich recipe proposed by Andrea.
Purists are always very suspicious of alternative versions of iconic recipes, but there are cases in which even the palate most faithful to traditional recipes cannot help but be seduced by truly special flavors and combinations.
This is the case of pasta carbonara, an untouchable classic of Roman cuisine and a recipe on whose preparation the debate is always very heated: the variant with asparagus is a spring alternative that will leave its mark and convince even the most sceptical.
The classic egg yolk and cheese cream will not be missing, but in the recipe proposed by Andrea, the asparagus will be the protagonists, together with the smoked bacon which will take the place of the bacon. To make this version even more appealing, the homemade bigoli will take care of it: a touch of Venetian culinary tradition that will not disappoint expectations.
Ingredients
For the bigoli
- Farina 00 300 g
- Eggs n.3
- turmeric teaspoon n.1
For the sauce
- Yolks 5
- smoked bacon cut into strips
- Green and white asparagus 500 g
- grana padano 100 g
- Black pepper to taste
Method
Procedure for bigoli
Introduction: to make bigoli, i.e. a long pasta shape a little “bigger” than spaghetti, you need to have a bigolaro, a press that can be purchased in household goods stores.
Procedure: put the flour, eggs, turmeric in a bowl and knead; work the dough until it is smooth and let it rest covered for at least 30 minutes. Start making the bigoli by passing a little dough at a time into the bigolaro, remembering to flour it well with semolina once it comes out of the press.
Procedure for asparagus carbonara
To prepare the carbonara, start with asparagus. Wash, clean and peel them, eliminating the woodiest part: to understand how much of the stem to eliminate, apply light pressure with your finger on the stem, breaking it and you will see that it will break at the correct height, thus eliminating the hardest part. Pour some water into a pan which will be used for cooking the pasta.
In the meantime, cut the asparagus stems into rounds of about 1 cm (keeping the tips intact) and the bacon into strips. Pour a drizzle of oil into a pan and fry first the bacon for a few minutes and then the cut asparagus (keep the green ones aside which will be added last), which you will cook over a low heat, stirring and taking care that it does not they burn.
Blanch the green asparagus in the pasta water, leaving them al dente and add the bigoli. While you cook the pasta, in a bowl combine the egg yolks, the Grana Padano, plenty of pepper and a ladle of cooking water; mix well and keep aside.
Drain the bigoli al dente and transfer them directly to the pan with the asparagus and bacon, together with a ladle of cooking water. Complete the cooking by seasoning the pasta and adding additional water if necessary, taking care not to leave it too dry. Move the pan from the heat, add the cream of egg yolks and Grana Padano, mix well and add more black pepper to taste if necessary.
Mix once more, admire the creaminess and serve your carbonara.
