spring carbonara
yeah, it's a thing, and yeah, it's vegetarian baby!!
Well, well, well, here we are!
Spring is nearly upon us, but we aren’t quite there. Yet. The weather in San Francisco still can’t decide what it wants to be (same, girl). Days of rain break into cloudless afternoons, only for us to be soaked once again the next time we leave the house.
I got caught in a hailstorm the other day. Hail! Boooooooo.
Needless to say, I have been desperate for spring. I want to wear shorts. I want a little sunburn. I want to go to the farmers market and buy the thickest asparagus imaginable and I want to blanch them and eat them with olive oil and lemon and a little salt. I want to kiss someone in a park, and I want to eat a really good piece of cake on the beach.
Those things are coming for me in the spring. Until then, I want food that is bright enough to summon the season but hearty enough to keep me warm until it gets here. That’s where this pasta comes in.
Before we get to the recipe, here are a few other life updates from me:
🪱 I’m going to see Dune tomorrow. I’m afraid if I don’t get the popcorn bucket, my whole life will fall apart. Everyone, cross your fingers.
🕊️ Speaking of my whole life falling apart, I am lightly unemployed! It’s too long a story to explain, and it’s not really that interesting, but here we are. The last time I was out of a job, I got cast on ATK Next Gen, so who knows what the universe has in store for me. Something wonderful, I’m sure (I hope)!
If you’re my family and you’re reading this, don’t tell my mom. If you’re my mom reading this, don’t tell dad. It’s fine! I’m a big girl, and I’ll figure it out. (And, if you want to upgrade your membership to paid temporarily or even permanently, I will not stop you!)
💋 On a brighter note, if you live in San Francisco, I’ll be reading at Make Out Room on March 12th at 7 pm at a show called Happy Endings. I’ve written a new essay for it and I think it’s pretty good if I do say so myself. Come on by!
🍽️ Also, Robbie was in town a few weeks ago! He guest-cheffed at a Virgo Supper Club we had up on a farm. It was delicious. He launched the Date Plate (and I wrote some copy for his website!). I would tell you to buy one, but they sold out. Sad for you but so happy for him! My baby! I am so, so proud.
Unfortunately, mine hasn’t arrived yet, so this recipe was shot on another plate that is definitely not as beautiful or as well made but it had to do.
Alright, enough yapping. The recipe. Here we go.
Spring carbonara is, obviously, inflammatory. Carbonara purists will hate that this is what it’s called, and that’s ok. If there’s no meat, is it even carbonara? It is if I say so!
I did a lot of carbonara research, and the bottom line is this: everything is made up, and the points don’t matter. The base of this sauce is essentially the same as carbonara: fat, cheese, and eggs. In place of animal fat, we’re doubling the olive oil. We’re trying to summon spring here, so there’s lots of lemon and dill too.
To me, it still hits all the same deeply savory, incredibly unctuous notes I want from carbonara while managing to be a little zippy and a little spicy at the same time.
A lot of people are afraid of carbonara, but here’s the secret: just take it at your own pace. I explain it all in the recipe notes, but really, you can do it. I promise. And more than that, you should do it. This recipe is very, very good. I’m particularly proud of it.
The final thing I’ll say is you really should eat it right away. Once it’s ready, it’s ready. Just like I am ready for spring. Some people will warm the bowls in the oven prior to serving or fill them with warm water and then dump them out so the bowls are still hot. I don’t do this, but you can if you want!
spring carbonara: ingredients
1 lb pasta: I used rigatoni, I think it’s better than longer thinner noodles here!
3 whole large eggs plus 2 egg yolks: use the whites in an aperol flip!
1 cup grated parmesan cheese, loosely packed, plus more for garnish: grate it right into the cup measure, no pushing down!
¼ cup lemon juice: if you use a little over a quarter cup (approximately what you get from two lemons, I won’t tell anyone)
1 tablespoon lemon zest
¼ cup olive oil
½ cup pasta water (maybe a little more!)
2 tablespoons kosher salt: this is (probably) the one and only time I’ll give you exact measurements for salt in pasta water—four quarts water and two tablespoons of salt—the pasta water plays a big role here, and the salt and starch levels matter!!
2 shallots, thinly slicked
5 garlic cloves, thinly sliced
½ tablespoon fresh cracked black pepper
½ tablespoon red chili flakes: you can skip it if you don’t want it to be spicy, but why would you do that
2 tabslepsoons capers
½ cup dill, stems and all, loosely packed, plus more for garnish
spring carbonara: method
Here’s what I’m gonna say about this up top—go at your own pace! There’s a world where you can prep your ingredients, put on your pasta water to boil, cook your garlic and shallots and bloom your spices, boil your pasta while that happens, and then have it all ready to come together pretty simultaneously. That stresses me out! I can do it, just like you can do it. But I don’t want to!
Instead, what I did was prep my mise (a cheffy word for all that stuff that goes into the pasta), then cooked the garlic and shallots and capers and bloomed my spices, then took it off the heat. I boiled my water and cooked my pasta, and then I assembled everything. It was gorgeous and slow, and it came together beautifully, and I wasn’t stressed at all.
You can choose your own adventure here. Do it all simultaneously if you want to—I believe in you! But there’s no pressure to do it like that. I don’t think it’s very impressive to accomplish it at once. I think what’s more impressive is making a delicious meal and feeling happy while you do it.
Prep your mise!!! Thinly slice the shallots and garlic. Grate your parmesan cheese. Chop your dill—if the stems look tender enough, keep them! I think they add a nice little crunch. Measure out your black pepper and red chili flakes. Zest your lemon and measure out a quarter cup of juice.
In a large bowl, combine three whole eggs and two yolks. Add the parmesan cheese, lemon zest, and lemon juice. Beat together well and set aside.
Add olive oil to a large pan over medium heat and cook shallots and garlic until they start to take on a bit of color, about five minutes. Add the capers, fresh cracked black pepper, and red chili flakes. Cook until the capers start to frizzle, the spices have bloomed, and the garlic has started to turn golden. Another five minutes. Remove from the heat and set aside.
Add four quarts of water and two tablespoons of kosher salt to a large pot and bring to a boil (you can do this at the start of step three if you want!). Once the water boils, add your pasta and cook until just al dente. RESERVE ONE CUP OF PASTA WATER. I usually reserve two cups because I’m a nervous baby, but you really won't need more than half a cup.
Drain your pasta and immediately add it back to the pot off the heat. Add the shallot garlic mixture and mix well. Set aside.
Slowly add a half cup of pasta water to the egg and cheese mixture, stirring continuously.
Add the egg mixture and dill to the pot with the pasta and stir vigorously. It will look a little soupy, but it will start to firm up and thicken after about two minutes. Around minute three or four, it should be perfect! If the sauce is now too thick for you (magic!), you can add a tablespoon of pasta water at a time until you get your desired level of silkiness.
Serve it up, baby! Garnish with some dill, a few more cracks of black pepper, and a showering of grated parm. Eat! Enjoy! You did it!
The optional step nine is to start soaking your pot while someone carries your bowl to the table for you to eat. That way, when you’re done and full and happy, you don’t have caked-on carbonara sauce to deal with. Don’t say I’ve never done anything for ya!
I hope you make this! I hope we all get to enjoy spring soon. I hope I get Dune popcorn bucket and a kiss and I hope everything is going to be ok!
<3
Garrett
I used a little over a quarter cup lemon juice don’t tell anyone 😉