Roasted cauliflower, crispy pancetta, and cream-filled burrata cheese finish off this unique twist on pasta carbonara.
The trick to a perfectly smooth and creamy carbonara is to temper the eggs gently (to prevent them from scrambling), resulting in a perfectly rich and creamy sauce that’s out of this world.
There are few things more satisfying than a perfectly creamy pasta carbonara for dinner.
Unless, of course, it’s topped with hunks of cream-filled burrata cheese. That addition alone ups the delicious factor tenfold without a second thought.
I’m a big proponent of the “burrata makes everything better” philosophy, whether it be salad or flatbread or pasta… toss a bit of burrata in there and your dish will be anything but mediocre.
But the burrata isn’t the only thing this pasta has going for it…
It’s also got roasty toasty cauliflower.
Roasting is my absolute favorite way to cook cauliflower (short of frying in in brown butter, of course) as the formerly flavorless vegetable takes on an entirely new life once it’s roasted to a rich golden brown. Nutty and buttery and as satisfying as any potato ever was.
We used Fusilli Col Buco pasta for this recipe (also sometimes called Fusilli Lunghi, Fusilli Bucati if it’s cut into shorter pieces). I’d argue it is one of the most delightful pasta shapes out there. It’s what you’d get if bucatini and fusilli had a love child, the long, hollow spiral strands winding around your bowl like an old-school telephone cord. Of course, you could certainly use any other long-strand shape such as bucatini, perciatelli, or spaghetti, or a swirly short-cut with ample nooks and crannies like fusilli, rotini, or gemelli.
The cornerstone of a traditional carbonara is a sauce made from eggs and grated Parmesan cheese (one case where that powdery stuff really is the best option), and tossed with al-dente pasta along with softened onions, crispy bacon or pancetta, and a hearty dose of black pepper. Many recipes add milk or cream but I find that entirely unnecessary, the final product tasting too alfredo-like for me.
Our ‘trick’ for perfectly creamy sauce (rather than scrambled, curdled, or watery in consistency) is something we learned from countless batches of homemade ice cream: namely, to temper the eggs before adding the sauce to the hot pan. You acheive this by whisking 1/2 cup of hot pasta water into the egg and cheese mixture. This thins the sauce (instead of using milk or cream like many recipes) as well as prepares the eggs for the shock of a hot pan, making it less likely to scramble or curdle. Once you pull your pan off the heat, add the sauce and stir vigorously (seriously, don’t stop!) until the pasta is completely coated and the sauce is thickened. Then transfer it to your serving dishes and enjoy it while it’s still warm and creamy.
Unlike other pasta dishes, this one is best served immediately after cooking. Even 30 minutes later the sauce will take on an appetizing consistency. While you can certainly enjoy the leftovers the next day, it’s never quite the same.