h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

Entry: Spaghetti alla Carbonara - A745643
Author: GreyDesk (ACE & Guru) [Mid Table Mediocrity (again)] - U165955

This is my first attempt at submitting something for the Edited Guide, so please be nice to me.

And if you are, I might invite you round for tea.

Looks good but perhaps I should try the recipe first. Mine *always* comes out like scrambled egg

grey desk takes over the world with an empire founded on pasta.....

And why not? The Romans did OK on it

I'm not going to test run this recipe as I suspect there isn't a substitute for the bacon, however it looks good and it's well laid out and easy to understand.

Good job!

I'd better not try this out either as I'm trying to lose weight! But I agree that the recipe is very well explained, and I like the historical background bit. It's probably best not to think about the 'sprinkling of charcoal' bit when you're actually eating the stuff, though!

Good work, GD. You'll be changing your name to Cordon Bleu Desk soon!

I and my good lady wife have just tried this recipe. IT'S GREAT

I used a mixture of streaky bacon and Pecorino Romano with the suggested cheeses. The result was a little salty, but I don't know whether that's due to the cheese or meat. I'll try differing combinations in future.

The sauce itself worked a treat. I've not had a nice coating like that before.

Mrs Geoff was a bit full, but there again she's 6 months pregnant so that's no indicator of portion size.

I thoroughly approve of this entry. I'llbe using this recipe again.



Geoff

Wonderful dish, isn't it? Goes very well with red wine, too The recipe's slightly different from my own (a variation: Add a little finely chopped onion and pressed garlic according to taste to the bacon once there's enough fat melted off for it to sizzle nicely - heavenly!) - but I surely wouldn't let that get into the guide.

In with it, I say!

Now - ?

!

MMmmmmmmm I love Spaghetti Carbonara.

A good way to test if spaghetti is cooked is to throw a strand at the wall - if it sticks, it's cooked. If it falls on the floor, it's still too al dente.

Alternative for bacon? as in veggie alternative? There used to be soya strips sold in frozen packs which did a passable imitation....

*rereading above*
"but I surely wouldn't let that get into the guide."
Oops - screwed up What I meant was that I wouldn't let that stand in the way for this entry to go into the guide...

Now that I think of it, we actually had SAC on Monday evening...

Veggie alternatives in this recipe are probably more trouble than they're worth. As its not just the bacon that needs substituting. You'll need to substitute the cheese as well because of the all rennet used in its production. And come to think of it, the majority of cream and egg production processes are hardly a paragon of virtue in animal cruelty terms.

Once the site gets a bit more stable. I'll put in a line or two about the problems of veggie & Carbonara.

Yeah, fair point for strict vegetarians.

But there are lots who are more flexible in what they eat, and I know a few who are OK with dairy products, including cheese.

Veggies, don't give up on this one yet - try blanched asparagus cut into about one inch pieces instead of bacon.

Thanks for the tip Dogster

I tried it out with asparagus during the week and it is rather nice. Its not Spaghetti alla Carbonara, but it does make a filling tea

I've updated the 'veggie' paragraph with this alternative. At the same time I've dumped the criticisms of the eggs, cream and butter vis vegetarians. But have played up the problem with Parmesan cheese and the fact that it contains animal rennet.