Good Recipes – Sausage Carbonara

I promised the Ladies Homestead Gathering in Athens last month when I gave a talk on cooking and eating local, seasonal produce that I would post some of my favorite stand-by recipes.  So I’ll start with Sausage Carbonara, the meal you can cook in the time it takes to boil pasta.  It is adapted from Jamie’s Italy, a cookbook I love and would totally recommend.  It’s great for summer cooking because it’s got loads of dishes that use tomatoes, basil, etc.

Sausage Carbonara (adapted from Jamie’s Italy)  – Serves 4

Ingredients:

sausage (the amount depends on how meaty you want your dish)

1 lb. dried pasta (long skinny pastas do best)

sea salt and freshly ground black pepper (I know this sounds fru fru, but good ingredients make all the difference)

4 large (organic, free range) egg yolks

1/2 cup heavy cream

3 1/2 oz. freshly grated Parmesan cheese (again, get the good stuff, it makes all the difference in taste)

zest of 1 lemon

sprig of parsley, chopped

extra virgin olive oil

Recipe:

Roll sausage meat into little balls and cook in frying pan. (This is optional, sometimes I’m  lazy and just cook it loose and toss it into the pasta)  Bring a pot of salted water to boil, add the pasta and cook until al dente.  Meanwhile, in a mixing bowl, whisk the egg yolks, cream, half the Parmesan, the lemon zest, and parsley.  When the pasta is cooked, drain it, reserving a little of the water, and immediately toss it with the egg mixture (in the pasta pot).  Add the hot sausage and toss everything together.  The delicate egg sauce cooks with the heat from the hot pasta and sausage.  Yay!  Now go and eat this delicious meal!