Monday, March 14, 2011

Man Food: Jamie Oliver's Sausage Carbonara

Dear Jess,


I am happy to say: things are quite busy. There's work, yoga, drawing, church, cooking, running, and so much more. The weather is slowly getting warmer which will lead to running outside, and other adventurous outings.

Friday night has become a 'resting point' for Jason and myself. We really enjoy pouring a large glass of red wine before picking a low-maintenance (yet delicious)  meal to make. On this particular Friday, however, we were invited to a friend's house for coffee and dessert. Since my yoga class went until 6:45, it really didn't leave much time for making dinner before going out for dessert. All of this leads to today's feature recipe: Sausage Carbonara.

Jason and I had made this in the 'pre-blog' days. Knowing what to expect from this one, he offered to whip it together so it would be ready by the time I got home. (What a nice young man!) I have to admit, that Jason cooking Jamie Oliver for me makes him even more attractive... if that's even at all possible.

What I love about this particular dish, is it's lightness in spite of the pasta and meat. The egg and lemon zest really make it a sweeter dinner. Jamie accurately describes it as the 'breakfast pasta.' We originally found this recipe in Jamie Oliver Italy, but this time we pulled it off JamieOliver.com.



Sausage Carbonara
From Jamie's Italy
4 good quality organic Italian sausages
olive oil
4 slices of thickly cut pancetta, chopped (we use 6 strips of bacon)
sea salt and freshly ground black pepper
500g dried linguine pasta
4 large free-range or organic egg yolks
100ml double cream (we used 2% milk)
100g freshly grated Parmesan cheese
zest of 1 lemon
a sprig of fresh flat-leaf parsley, shopped
extra virgin olive oil

1. With a sharp knife, slit the sausage skins lengthways and pop all the meat out. Using wet hands, roll little balls of sausage meat about the size of large marbles and place them to one side.

2. Heat a large frying pan and add a good splash of olive oil. Gently fry the sausage meatballs until golden brown all over, then add the pancetta and continue cooking for a couple of minutes, until it's golden. While this is cooking, bring a pan of salted water to the boil, add the linguine, and cook according to the packet instructions.

3. In a large bowl, whip up the egg yolks, cream, half the Parmesan, the lemon zest and parsley. When the pasta is cooked, drain it in a colander, reserving a little of the cooking water, and immediately toss it quickly with the egg mixture back int eh pasta pan. Add the hot sausage meatballs and toss everything together. The egg will cook delicately from the heat of the linguine, just enough for it to thicken and not scramble. The sauce should be smooth and silky. If the pasta becomes a little claggy, add a few spoonfuls of the reserved cooking water to loosen it slightly. Sprinkle over the rest of the Parmesan, season if necessary, drizzle with extra virgin olive oil and serve. Eat immediately!



I am thrilled that God is making himself known to you, and giving you little pushes. I'm reading a lot of John Piper lately, and it is definitely enlightening. I am very excited to hear more details. Also I am looking forward to this upcoming weekend of laughing and sharing.

So much love,
Sally

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