Lucy Knisley alla Carbonara

Dear world,

I’m not sure that I can call this carbonara. It’s almost a carbonara, but I’ve learned, while sitting in many an Italian household that a carbonara has a pretty rigid list of ingredients.

I’d listen to women talk about their recipes in Italian. They’d layer on words and stories about cooking and pasta and the special things they do to make their recipes better. And I, well, I don’t speak much Italian, but when it comes to food, I *get* it.  You don’t have to turn to me and explain the difference in English. One woman doesn’t cook the pancetta. She puts it into the eggs cruda, raw, before adding the pasta. Another uses a special type of pancetta. She tries to explain to me what kind and I think of all the meats behind the counter of the grocery store where I talk to the man behind the counter, “Perdone, signore. Uh. Vorrei cucinare carbonara. Qual e the buono one?”

I don't tell anyone (I don't actually have the vocabulary to tell anyone) my secret: I already have the best recipe for carbonara; Lucy Knisley’s recipe for carbonara, from her book, Relish. Now whenever I cook or eat carbonara, I think of Lucy and how lovingly she created the recipe for her book.

I wanted to make a dish inspired by her, so naturally, carbonara.

But not just any carbonara. *pink* carbonara.  Instead of pancetta, I used beets and shallots. 

This is where we have a problem. I can’t call it carbonara anymore, because its *not* a carbonara. It’s something else. Like how it’s not a cookbook or a graphic novel. Relish is something else.

Shallots and beets go really well together in pasta. The caramelized shallots add more earthiness and bite to both highlight and cut the sweetness of the beets. Add the creaminess of eggs and cheese and you have something decadent and unexpected.

Recipe

2 servings of linguine
2 cloves of garlic
½ cup of beets, diced
2 medium-sized shallots 2 eggs
½ c shredded parmesan or pecorino romano

1.       Boil the water.

2.       In a saucepan, add 1 tbsp of olive oil and the two whole cloves of garlic. Let them roast, turning them until they’re golden brown (like Lucy does).  Add the shallots and cook until they’re almost caramelized, then add the diced beets. Keep cooking until everything is somewhat smoky and sweet. Salt to taste. And *do* taste, earthy and sweet. This takes anywhere from 10-15 minutes. Remove the garlic cloves.

3.       In another, large bowl, add 2 eggs, beat until the eggs turn a lighter color. (I think this was our problem with watery carbonara, Joanne! We didn’t beat the eggs hard enough!) Add the grated cheese.

4.       Cook the pasta.

5.       When the pasta is done, add some of it to the egg mixture and toss. Then add the beet mixture and toss some more. Then add the rest of the pasta and keep tossing until it turns an acceptable shade of pink.