Penguin Random House has shared the recipe for Jamie Oliver’s Classic carbonara with crunchy porcini breadcrumbs from Jamie Cooks Italy!

Jamie Cooks Italy is a celebration of the joy of Italian food. Jamie wants to share his love of all things Italian with accessible, best-ever recipes for Classic Carbonara, Salina Chicken, Stuffed Focaccia, Baked Risotto Pie, Pot- Roasted Cauliflower and Limoncello Tiramisu. This is about bringing the pleasure and passion of the world’s favourite cuisine to your kitchen at home.

Featuring 140 recipes in Jamie’s easy-to-follow style, the book has chapters on Antipasti, Salad, Soup, Meat, Pasta, Fish, Rice & Dumplings, Bread & Pastry, Sides, Desserts and all the Basics you need.

The recipes are a mix of fast- and slow-cooking, familiar classics with a Jamie twist, simple everyday dishes and more indulgent labour-of-love choices for weekends and celebrations. Whether cooking for yourself or cooking for friends and family, the aromas and tastes will transport you straight to the landscapes of Italy. Viva Italia!

Classic Carbonara

Crunchy porcini breadcrumbs

While this is one of the most famous Roman pastas, actually ham, eggs, cheese and pasta is a combination that’s been celebrated for a long time throughout all of Italy. There’s much debate about the perfect carbonara, but sourcing guanciale, going heavy on the pepper and cracking it fresh, as well as controlling the temperature of your pan, are what’s key to this fantastic, comforting pasta. I love the classic recipe I’ve given you here, but with the bolt-on of crunchy porcini breadcrumbs it just eats so well, plus it’s a nice evolution and surprise.

Serves 4
Total time: 30 minutes

Indredients

• 80g piece of higher-welfare guanciale (cured pig’s cheek) or smoked pancetta
• 10g dried porcini mushrooms
• 2 sprigs of fresh rosemary
• 80g stale rustic bread
• ½ tablespoon black peppercorns
• 300g dried spaghetti or bucatini
• 2 large free-range eggs
• 50g Parmesan cheese

Trim off and roughly chop the guanciale skin, then place just the skin in a blender with the porcini. Strip in the rosemary leaves, tear in the bread and blitz into rough crumbs. Toast in a large dry frying pan on a medium heat until golden, tossing regularly. Tip into a bowl for later. In the same pan, briefly toast the peppercorns, then crack and pound in a pestle and mortar until fine. Pass through a sieve, discarding anything left behind. Remove the frying pan from the heat for a few minutes to cool slightly.

Cook the pasta in a pan of boiling salted water according to the packet instructions. Meanwhile, chop the guanciale into 1⁄2cm chunks, sprinkle into the frying pan with the pepper, and place on a medium-low heat until the fat has rendered out and turned golden. In a bowl, beat the eggs, then finely grate in most of the Parmesan and beat again.

Using tongs, drag the pasta straight into the guanciale pan, letting some starchy cooking water go with it to break the frying. Toss with all that gorgeous flavour, then remove from the heat and – of utmost importance – wait 2 minutes for the pan to cool before adding the eggs (if it’s too hot, they’ll scramble; get it right and they’ll be smooth, silky and elegant). Moving the pasta, toss in the eggs, loosening with extra cooking water, if needed. Plate up immediately, finely grate over the remaining Parmesan and serve with the golden breadcrumbs, for sprinkling.

CALORIES 475kcal
FAT 15g
SAT FAT 5.7g
PROTEIN 23g
CARBS 66.5g
SUGAR 3.3g
SALT 1.4g
FIBRE 3g

Jamie Cooks Italy by Jamie Oliver is published by Penguin Random House © Jamie Oliver Enterprises Limited (2018 Jamie Cooks Italy), photography: David Loftus

Categories Cookery International Non-fiction

Tags Jamie Cooks Italy Jamie Oliver Penguin Random House SA Recipes