Generality
In the gastronomic field, the term bacon and egg indicates an accompanying sauce for dry food pasta. Generally, the pasta shapes that go best with carbonara are spaghetti, but there is no shortage of recipes with penne, linguine or fusilli.
Nutritional Characteristics
The carbonara is a high-calorie sauce, with a lipid prevalence which is accompanied by the contribution of proteins (with a high biological value) and carbohydrates. The breakdown of fatty acids is in favor of the unsaturated ones, but the saturated ones reach an amount to say the least alarming, mind you, in sporadic consumption and in adequate portions, carbonara is NOT a POISON for the body! However, if the diet is mainly composed of recipes from the same category, even occasional consumption can become a risk factor for the health of the subject. This considerable presence of saturated fatty acids, correlated to a very high cholesterol intake, in the medium and long term could be responsible for the worsening of lipemia, in particular the increase in total cholesterol and LDL (bad cholesterol); it is useless to remember that the alteration of these two blood parameters represents one of the best known and most significant cardio-vascular risk factors.
With regard to mineral salts, carbonara is particularly rich in sodium, respectively contained in the salt used for the processing of guanciale (or pancetta) and cheeses. This element, if constantly in excess, is responsible for the worsening of blood pressure, up to reaching (in some subjects) the pathological state called hypertension. Overweight people, those familiar with the disease and sedentary people are more exposed to this risk. Hypertension also increases cardiovascular risk in a very important way.
In addition to sodium, always among the minerals, the levels of calcium, phosphorus and iron are excellent.
Nutritional values (per 100 g of edible portion)
As far as vitamins are concerned, carbonara is very rich in them. The concentrations of thiamine (vit. B1), riboflavin (vit. B2), niacin (vit. PP), pyridoxine (vit. B6), biotin (vit. H), folate, retinol (vit. A) and calciferol stand out ( vit. D); some of these are not mentioned in the table.
Ultimately, it certainly cannot be denied that carbonara is a rather nutritious food; however, in the light of what has been highlighted for saturated fatty acids, cholesterol and sodium, it is recommended to use them sporadically, not systematically and, above all, in portions that do NOT exceed 50g of sauce for 80-90g of dry pasta. It is totally excluded from the diet of hypercholesterolemics, hypertensive and obese people; even pregnant women must do without it, not so much for the nutritional content, but for the hygienic risk associated with raw eggs.
Traditional recipe of Carbonara
The classic carbonara recipe is quite simple. The ingredients for 4 people are:
- diced pork cheek (120-150g)
- egg yolks (3 or 4)
- egg white
- pecorino romano (50-80g)
- coarse ground black pepper (to taste)
- semolina pasta (320g dry)
- coarse salt (to taste).
The traditional procedure is just as simple and involves: boiling the lightly salted water and then throwing the pasta; in the meantime, brown the diced bacon in a pan and, separately, beat together: the yolks, the whites, the pecorino. and black pepper forming an appearil. To finish the sauce, it is therefore sufficient to incorporate the bacon into the appearil, which will be added to the well-drained pasta by mixing carefully in a bowl (NOT on the fire, since the egg would thicken quickly).
Revisiting with Less Fat and Calories
On the other hand, without distorting this formula too much, it is possible to obtain a decidedly less caloric dish; be careful, however, as we will see in the description of the procedure, it is the attention to detail that makes the difference!
The ingredients for 4 people of a possible light variant are:
- small diced bacon (150g)
- yolks and egg white
- milk (3 tablespoons)
- finely grated Parmesan cheese (2-3 tablespoons)
- pecorino romano in large flakes (50g)
- coarse ground black pepper
- pasta with inulin (diabetic pasta, 320g dry)
- coarse salt (to taste).
Procedure: boil the lightly salted water and then throw the pasta; in a non-stick pan or in lava stone, when cold, brown the bacon cut into small cubes with the lowest possible flame (it will take more than 10 ", time to boil the water and cook the pasta). Meanwhile, separately, make up the appearil with yolks, egg white, milk, Parmesan cheese and pepper. Therefore, drain all the fat exuded from the bacon and pat the cubes with absorbent paper. Drain the pasta "Al dente" and toss it in the pan with the bacon over the heat off. Therefore, add the appearil, mix, and add the pecorino too. Eventually (if too tied) adjust the consistency with more milk; on the contrary, if the pasta has not been drained well and has diluted the appearil too much, place in a bowl and leave covered for 2 ", stirring occasionally.
It may seem a slightly different variant of carbonara than the previous one and, at first glance, it has anything but the appearance of a "light" recipe. Nevertheless, by carrying out the procedure described correctly, the estimate of the total lipids is easily reduced by 50g; in practice, each diner will introduce up to 12-13g less fat. If we then take into consideration the choice of pasta with inulin, the reduction of yolks and the incorporation of milk, the energy reduction can reach and exceed 15-18% compared to the first case.
Light Spaghetti Carbonara
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And for lovers of vegan recipes ... the video of the fake vegan carbonara
Background
The carbonara, unlike the amatriciana, has rather confused roots.
The hypotheses on its real conception are different and all quite plausible, albeit very different. The first is, hear-hear, attributable to the American influence; in fact, analyzing the various texts that date back to the period preceding the Second World War, there are no traces of the Carbonara recipe. Only with the arrival of the allied (American) troops, and the consequent importation of bacon, did we begin to observe the progressive diffusion of the typical condiment based on bacon, eggs and cheese. The second hypothesis, which however cannot exclude the previous one, attributes the merit to the Apennine charcoal burners (Abruzzo, Umbria, etc.). They, who used to consume a dish called "cacio e ova" during the long vigils of the charcoal pits, may have evolved the recipe by adding bacon (peppery) or lard; this formula does not include the addition of olive oil, which is too expensive for this social class.
The third hypothesis, also pertinent and which does not reject the previous ones, gives credit to Neapolitan cuisine. To support this possibility, there is the awareness that, in the Neapolitan gastronomic tradition, the condiment in question is widely used as an additional enrichment of many other recipes.
Based on your preferred conjecture, carbonara may include bacon or smoked bacon (alter ego of American bacon).
