I chose this dish because I wanted some simple comfort food and this is what I turn to when I want it. Its homemade carbonara and is an egg and cheese-based sauce with pasta. I decided on this because I was looking through my fridge and saw a beautiful container of asiago and thought that it would pair really well with pasta. There isn’t really a story behind this dish, but I have made it before but it didn’t turn out so well because I forgot to take the pan off the heat before adding the eggs and I had pasta and scrambled eggs. As a result, this attempt felt like a redemption to carbonara.

I made a couple of changes to the recipe and I didn’t have a giant effect but you could tell they were there. First off, I substituted guanciale with salami because the cured pork cheek is quite hard to find around here and salami was the only cured meat in the house so I just went with it. Secondly, I didn’t have parmesan so I used Asiago and therefore, the dish lost a fair amount of nuttiness that one would get with parmesan.

This time, my family enjoyed the Carbonara much better than the last time. They said the sauce was very creamy and the pasta was nice and dense. I asked them for some suggestions for next time and here is what they said. My sister wanted more pepper in the pasta, my dad said he preferred bacon as the meat and my mom wished I made the dish warmer before serving it. I could understand how to accommodate the suggestions of my dad and my sister, however, I really couldn’t wrap my head around the solution to make the dish warmer. If I turned the heat make on, the eggs would scramble but if I don’t the pasta temperature lowers a bit.

Here is the recipe:

Fresh Pasta

INGREDIENTS

1 cup flour

1 whole egg

1 egg yolk

PREPARATION

Put the flour on a counter and make a well

Add the eggs inside and start whisking and slowly incorporate the flour into the eggs until a shaggy dough forms.

Knead for 5-6 mins until it’s ready. (bounces back when poked)

Wrap and rest for 30 mins in room temperature

Roll until almost see through and cut as desired

Boil in salted boiling water for about 3 minutes

Carbonara

Servings: 2-3

INGREDIENTS

1/2 pound spaghetti

3 slices bacon, cut into ¼” cubes (or any other cured meat)

extra virgin olive oil

1 tablespoon salt

½ tablespoon freshly ground black pepper

1 large egg, room temperature

2 egg yolks, room temperature

1/4 cup Asiago, freshly grated(Maybe more)

1/4 cup Parmigiano-Reggiano, freshly grated (maybe more)

1 garlic clove, peeled

Garnish

Italian parsley, chopped

PREPARATION

Bring a large pot of water to a boil.

Once it is boiling, add the salt, then the pasta and stir. Cook according to the time on the package, minus two minutes.

Heat a large, tall sided frying pan over medium heat. Add extra virgin olive oil and the bacon, and saute until just turning crisp, stirring frequently.

Smash the garlic clove and add to the frying pan with the bacon.

In a bowl or measuring cup, whisk the eggs with the egg yolks. Add the black pepper and half of the Pecorino-Romano, Parmigiano-Reggiano and stir to combine.

Check the pasta for doneness.

Take the frying pan off the heat. Add the pasta and about a 1/3 cup of pasta water to the frying pan with the pancetta.

Add the egg/cheese mixture to the pan and quickly stir and shake the pan to avoid scrambling the eggs. add more pasta cooking water to your desired thickness to the sauce.

Sprinkle over the rest of the cheese and parsley and stir until the cheese is melted. Serve warm!

I have made this recipe since I was 9 and it is a family favourite so there was no big risk to it. It turned out nice and fluffy in the middle without the overpowering flavour of banana. The only changes I would make would be the addition of pumpkin seed and the top because I tried it before and it turned out wonderfully. Sadly, we didn’t have any in the house so I settled for chia seeds. I would have also waited a bit longer for the chocolate to cool before cutting into so the slices wouldn’t look so messy, but I just couldn’t wait.

The reason why I made this dish was that my mom, for some reason, always wants me to eat a banana. Unfortunately, I think bananas are disgusting and this is the only way for me to eat it. We had a lot in the house that day so I figured it would be a good idea. I was also craving something with chocolate but wanted it to be a bit on the healthy side

Because of my previous experience with this recipe, I know that my family and I prefer it with less sugar so I made a bit of an adjustment to the sugar. In addition, the chocolate chips are also my modification because I thought bananas and chocolate would go good together and I was right! It gave the bread the perfect amount of richness.

Here is the recipe by “simply recipes”

INGREDIENTS

• 2 to 3 very ripe bananas, peeled (about 1 1/4 to 1 1/2 cups mashed)
• 1/3 cup melted butter, unsalted or salted
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• Pinch of salt
• 3/4 cup sugar (1/2 cup if you would like it less sweet, 1 cup if more sweet)
• 1 large egg, beaten
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1 1/2 cups of all-purpose flour

METHOD

I wanted the props to show that the naan is fresh, straight from the flour, rolled out and cooked. Also, the black countertop was quite reflected so I found that this was the only angle where the light was not very reflected. I played around with the lighting to make it seem like there was nothing else around, just you and bread.

Though it is at a 45 degree angle, it was the only one that worked because there was other stuff on the table and the green onion plants don’t look good from a birds eye view. I added the towel and cutting board for a neat feel to the picture and the spices in the corner makes it feel like it is fresh. I also put it on the wood table for a rustic feel. I took two pictures because I wanted to show the texture of the mac and cheese.

I didn’t want to take it at  a 45 degree angle because it was too boring so I aimed for a little less than birds eye view. I didn’t go all the way because the countertop was reflective. I added the white cloth for color contrast with the counter and the food. Theres a lot going on because of all the colors, textures and the reflections.