Foolproof carbonara

I spent a couple of years living in mainland Europe when I was younger, which at least partially explains my love of good food.

I had some amazing meals, and I also discovered fantastic ingredients.  Things have improved a lot here, but back then it was a revelation - as if every single supermarket was a Waitrose.  You can get them in all the supermarkets here now, but I'd never seen those delectable little slices of smoked duck until I saw them in a small French supermarket ten years ago.  I tend to pass over them when I'm doing a general food shop in the supermarket because they are quite expensive, but I feel differently at the Farmers' Market - I'm there to buy good food rather than cheap food, and the Sussex Smokers people are so nice that I tend to linger at their stall!

The food was excellent in Italy, but I did find that Italians are very conservative about food - there's a right way to do certain things, and that is the way that it shall always be done.  According to Italians, carbonara must only be cooked with pancetta  but personally I'm happy to use whichever meat I fancy (chicken breast works well) and make additions like mushrooms or leeks.

This'll annoy them then.  It's tasty though!

Once carbonara's under way it cooks really quickly, so you can pretty much get everything ready while the pasta's cooking.

Get a pan of salted water on the go, then peel and finely chop an onion and slice up a couple of mushrooms.

Start sweating the onion and mushroom in oil over a low heat.  If you're using raw meat (bacon and/or chicken) now's the time to add that too, but my smoked duck is already ready to eat.

By this time, the pan of water has probably started boiling so you can get the pasta on the go.  According to the packet, the fusili I used today takes 12 minutes which is plenty of time to get everything else done.  Most recipes agree on 75g of dried pasta (uncooked) per person for a main course, but my girlfriend and I find that to be too much (and we're good eaters!) so I normally use 50g each.

Make up the carbonara mix by putting three egg yolks, about 100ml of cream and a generous sprinkling of grated parmesan in a jug along with lots of black pepper and stirring it all about with a fork.  It's so easy that I genuinely don't understand why anyone would buy a container of ready-made carbonara sauce from the supermarket.

When the pasta's nearly ready, add the smoked duck to the frying pan to allow it time to warm through.

Then when the pasta's ready drain it and add that too.  Pour the carbonara mix all over, turn the heat down as low as it will go and cook for another minute or so, stirring all the time - the carbonara mix is quite delicate and it will ruin the texture if you cook it for too long, so just let it all get warmed through.

Serve with more parmesan and black pepper on top.

Taste verdict

Believe it or not, there is such a thing as bad carbonara.  The texture can go all stringy and weird, and my girlfriend recalls a restaurant one which was really soggy, leaving water in the bottom of the plate.  This method cannot go wrong though, I promise - feel free to muck about with the meat and veg that you use, but if you make up the sauce like this and add it right at the end without overcooking it will be just fine.

Financial verdict

Compared to my very frugal soup earlier, this is a real blowout!  It's OK to have a treat every now and then though - and like I said, the Sussex Smokers stuff is so good I just can't leave it on the stall.

130g smoked duck breast - £4.49

An onion - 30p

Two mushrooms - 20p

Three eggs - 75p.  My friend who keeps chickens isn't selling eggs at the moment - her production really slows down throughout the winter months so she doesn't have any to spare.  My local butcher and greengrocer both sell free range eggs from the same local farm at  £1.50 for half a dozen, which is more than my friend charges but cheaper than the supermarkets.

100ml cream - 55p

A couple of good sprinkles of parmesan cheese, 100g pasta - pennies, from store.

Are you sitting down?  Take a deep breath - here goes.  £3.15 per person.

The Skinny

Start a pan of salted water boiling

Peel and chop an onion and slice up a couple of mushrooms

When the water comes to the boil, pour in 100g of dried pasta

In a separate frying pan, heat oil and start sweating the onion and mushrooms over a low heat

Make the carbonara mix.  Put three egg yolks, 100ml of cream and a good sprinkling of grated parmesan in a jug, add black pepper and mix thoroughly with a fork

Add the smoked duck to the frying pan

When the pasta is cooked, drain and add to the frying pan

Pour in the carbonara sauce, turn the heat down as low as possible and cook for another minute or two, stirring all the time

Serve with parmesan and black pepper 

WeightWatchers ProPoints

You're joking, right?