Jackson Jambalaya

I understand Abe Lincoln once said, “God must have loved the common man because he made so many of them.” It would be easy to take offense at that if it weren't so true!

It seems many of us were born as commoners. In my research, I have found the country to be absolutely full of them and in spite of any claims I might make, the desire to be honest with all of you common folks, requires me to admit that is also the way I was born and sadly, I never wandered very far from that level of society.

Angus Wilson wrote, “I have no concern for the common man except that he should not be so common.” He would have loved knowing me, since I am more than enough common for anyone who wants to experience commonality.

Confucius once said, “The superior man thinks always of virtue; the common man thinks of comfort.” I assume he was talking about Italian pasta dishes when he said that. It has to be true that Confucius was an expert on pasta, since Marco Polo, who was a well-known Italian dude, brought back the recipe for pasta to Italy from a weekend he spent in China. The surprising thing to me is that Confucius knew enough about Italian food to understand how true his thoughts were, as relates to pasta.

Here is a nice Pasta dish that will be more than adequate for any common man or woman. It is quickly and easily made, and a tasty choice for a winter night's meal.

Pasta Carbonara

This recipe should make two servings of good food for the common man.

Need

1 cup of thick sliced bacon or pancetta(diced)
1 clove of garlic (minced)
pasta for two
1cup of diced ham
salt, black pepper, red pepper flakes
olive oil
three egg yolks (discard whites or set aside for a fancy guy egg white omelet),
1 1/2 cups parmesan cheese
1 Tablespoon fresh parsley, chopped
1 cup of white wine

Cook the bacon or pancetta in a sauté pan until crisp, then set aside.  I used thick sliced bacon, cut into bits for my version. Pancetta is usually sliced thinner than I like and who doesn't like bacon?

Cook the pasta to al dente in salted water. If you like, add a little olive oil to the pasta water. Pasta cooks will tell you this is not necessary, but I think it adds a little olive oil taste to the dish. The carbonara will be prepared while the pasta is cooking. Do not add any salt to this dish. It needs none because the bacon is salty (Pancetta, too) and the salted pasta water is used to make the sauce.

Slice ham into 1/4 - 1/2 inch pieces. Chop parsley. Grate the Parmesan Cheese.

Cook the diced ham in the bacon fat. When the ham is done, add the minced garlic and 1 teaspoon of red pepper flakes, deglaze the pan with the white wine and then reduce the wine slightly.

Separate the eggs. The yolks are all you want for this dish. Save the whites if you have another use for them or discard if not.

When the pasta is cooked to al dente, whip the yolks and add about two or three Tablespoons of the slightly cooled pasta water to the eggs. Stir to temper the egg yolks and then add the rest of the hot pasta water slowly to the dish, while stirring to assure the yolks don’t cook.

Drain the pasta and quickly add to pan. It is important to work with hot ingredients from here on out because the heat from the pasta is needed to complete the sauce.

Add the whipped yolk and pasta water mixture to the hot contents in the sauté pan. At this point the culinary miracle of carbonara sauce making begins. Within a few minutes, as you stir the pasta, the yolks cook and the sauce forms.

Taste and season with Black Pepper. It may not need salt, but if it does, also add salt to taste

Add the Parmesan. Stir it in and allow it to melt.

Add the parsley.

Plate and serve with crusty bread and white wine, if you like.

Thanks for looking at my post.
God Bless you.