Ingredients (for 4 people)
- 500 gr spaghetti gragnano (d.o.p)
- 15 grams raw pistachio
- 30 grams fresh baby spinach
- 125 grams guanciale (cured pork jowl)
- 220 grams grana Padano (D.O.P.)
- 35 grams green evoo Oh! (D.O.P.)
- 7 egg yolks
- Freshly ground pepper, coarsely ground
- Generous salt for the cooking water
Alternatives:
* The cured pork jowl can be replaced by Iberian bacon, salted bacon or Iberian loin * The cheese can be cured or Parmesan, pecorino or grana Padano; the important thing is the earthy texture after grating it
- Guanciale is a cured pork product similar to pancetta (that is, unsmoked bacon), but made from the pig’s jowls or cheeks rather than the pork belly. It’s an essential ingredient in classic pasta carbonara.
- Zabaione is an Italian dessert, or sometimes a beverage, made with egg yolks, sugar, and a sweet wine (see picture to have an idea)
Elaboration
We start by heating water by being generous in salt. While the water is on the fire, we cut wide and long half-pinkie guanciale tacos.
We toast these tacos until they are crispy “torrezno” type in a non-stick frying pan. We reserve.
We finely grate the 220 grams of grana padano and mix them with the egg yolks and the green evoo, obtaining a paste similar to a zabaione. This olive oil achieves a very uniform and linked paste, as well as giving a touch of freshness and greenery. We reserve this pasta.
We roast the pistachios without adding oil in a small saucepan, being careful not to burn them. Freshly roasted pistachios are much more powerful in flavor with no added salt; They offer a more intense and creamy flavor.
Once the water boils we take the gragnano type pasta and boil it for 2 minutes less than the manufacturer indicates. In this case, the cooking has been 8 minutes, which in this type of pasta is the most common for its size and hardness, about ten minutes of cooking. Drain and reserve 500 ml of the pasta cooking water.
In a frying pan over high heat we take the individual portion of pasta, approx 120 grams, add the cooking water (125 ml) and begin to move happily in the pan. We lower the fire in half. Then, we add the pasta based on cheese, egg yolk and evoo (three heaping tablespoons of the mixture, per serving) and we do not stop moving at any time (approximately we will be about 2-3 minutes on this medium heat).
We finish plating adding the gurezle type “torrezno”, the sprouts of spinach, the pepper and pistachios and a splash of evoo. Spinach and pistachios add a touch of color, flavor, freshness and texture that blends well with this hearty dish.
Although we don’t need a reason to enjoy Spaghetti, we wanted to pay tribute to spinach on its International Day (March 26) and cheese on March 27.
This recipe, like the delicious lentil salad that we published on the International Day of Pulses, has been prepared by Nihonbashi Atelier with our extra virgin olive oil Oh! Early Harvest.Organic.
We invite you to stay tuned to the blog, the month of April is very promising in culinary matters! We say no more 🙂
If you dare to make this recipe at home, we would be happy to see it! You can use the hashtag #RecipeOh and tag us Green Gold and Nihonbashi 🙂
Enjoy it 🙂
