Spagetti squash carbonara
One of my college staples, I revisted this dish today and realized how much I missed it. This is a divisive one in my family. When I mentioned I was cooking it, mommy’s reaction was “ew” (this was one of my 拿手菜 during the years at Hartt). However, I think my cooking experience has allowed me perfect this “pasta” dish to its final form. When I cooked it with the friendos, it was both nostalgic and delicious.
Ingredients:
1 spagetti squash
3-4 slices thick cut bacon
grated parmesan (~ 4 tablespoons)
1 egg
1 teaspoon cornstarch
salt and pepper
olive oil
Procedure
Cut squash in half lengthwise and remove seeds. Add salt, pepper, and olive oil. This is the main step to flavor the strands of spagetti squash themselves.
Roast at 400 degrees F for 30 minutes. Strands should break apart easily but still be quite crunchy. We are going to be cooking the squash more, so this will soften a bit later.
Remove squash and flake out the spagetti strands.
Cut bacon into small pieces and fry over low heat until fat is rendered. Use a big nonstick pan, squash is going in here later. Pour out bacon fat, reserving about a tablespoon.
Create 面糊 by mixing water and cornstarch. Start with only a little water to dissolve cornstarch, then add so total water is about half cup.
Mix egg and parmesan cheese in a bowl. Stir well.
Put squash and slurry into pot. This slurry is meant to simulate pasta water in a real carbonara, and is providing most of the moisture for the dish. As such, adjust the water such that is is (slightly) drier than desired final consistency.
Add in reserved bacon fat if desired :)
Cook this until squash reaches desired doneness. I like it with still a bit of bite, I agree with Mummy that mushy spagetti squash is not great.
Take pan off heat, make sure water stops boiling. Add in egg and cheese mix and stir quickly to dissolve the cheese and make the egg safe to eat. We do not want curdling.
Add pepper and salt to taste.