Once I had tidied up my office on Friday afternoon, flicked off the powerswitches to my computer and printer and turned off the lights, I couldn't help but secretly jump up and down a few times. I was experiencing a mild case of Friday evening euphoria. I giggled to myself as I locked my office door and got the lift down to the ground floor. I could almost hear music that wasn't there! Next stop - King and Godfrey on Lygon Street to buy a bottle of Pinot Noir and something delicious to turn in to dinner. I pretty much skipped there!
I ended up with a 2008 Underground Pinot Noir from the Mornington Peninsula (a delicious bargain at $15), two delicate, milky balls of buffalo mozzarella, four slices of local Italian-style prosciutto, and some De Cecco Orecchiette (little ears!) pasta.
With this I invented a very delicious, simple and indulgent version of carbonara. I have no idea whether it resembles anything traditional. I don't care. It was perfect.
Friday Carbonara - Serves 2
250 g Orecchiette pasta
100 - 150g prosciutto, cut into small strips
2 teaspoons freshly ground black pepper
1/2 cup thin cream
3 eggs
1/2 teaspoons salt
olive oil and salt for pasta water
2 small buffalo mozzarella balls
Extra pepper to serve
In a mixing bowl, whisk together eggs, cream, 1/2 teaspoon salt and 2 teaspoons cracked pepper.
Meanwhile, boil pasta in a large pot (use one that has a fitted lid, for later) of salted water (be generous with the salt!) and a glug of olive oil. In a small pan, heat a dash of olive oil and pan fry the prosciutto until crispy. Set aside. When pasta is ready, drain and immediately return to pot. Stir through egg mixture, fit lid onto pot, wrap pot tightly with tea towel (to further keep heat in) and shake gently. Leave for 3 or 4 minutes, shaking pot occasionally. Whilst waiting, cut buffalo mozzarella into thin slices. After 4 minutes, stir through prosciutto. Dish up onto places and then arrange mozzarella slices of the top. Sprinkle with extra pepper.
Serve with delicious wine and some extra jumping around with Friday excitement.
2 comments:
Perfection sounds like the best Friday night dish to have! This looks wonderful, and at the risk of sounding incredibly, incredibly corny... I hope the rest of your weekend involves happy dancing too!
Thanks Hannah! I can assure you I was involved in more than one instance of spontaneous happy dancing during the weekend.
Post a Comment