Spaghetti Carbonara Pie
what to do when you end up with 25+ boxes of pasta...
Last week, I was on a shoot for the (beloved by many!) company Prego, who makes pasta sauces. Sometimes with photoshoots, you just don’t know ahead of time how much of one thing you’ll need, but you always want to be prepared. So this is how I ended up with 25+ boxes of pasta! Much of it long pasta, like spaghetti and fettuccine, which I’m actually not the biggest fan of. I’m a short-cut pasta gal. So what to do with all this spaghetti…. ?
Spaghetti Carbonara Pie!
Before we jump to the conclusion that my Italian ancestors are rolling in their graves with this mashup… I actually do believe that there is a dish made *in Italy* like this with leftover pasta. I’ve never had it there, but I feel like there’s a corner of my brain that filed this information at some point. Maybe someone reading this can confirm. But this cake/pie/ quasi-quiche is made with all the traditional players of carbonara: spaghetti, bacon (you totally could go authentic and use guanciale), eggs, black pepper, and parmigiano reggiano. It’s all baked in a springform pan and makes a really fun dish. My family and some friends I shared it with ,went absolutely nuts over it. The recipe is at the bottom of this email and is visible to paid subscribers.
The Most Perfect Balsamic Dressing
My husband likes a salad for lunch when he works from home and keeping a jar of this stuff in the fridge door is an easy start to a great one. Get the best ingredients you can and the results will amaze you. Here’s how to make about a 12 ounce jar.
Cut 4 cloves of garlic in half and put in a small saucepan or skillet. Cover with just enough extra virgin olive oil to nearly cover them. Turn the heat to medium and cook the garlic gently for about 8-10 minutes until it looks soft and slightly golden brown on the edges - don’t totally brown it! turn off the heat and pour this into a liquid measuring cup.
Pour more extra virgin olive oil into the measuring cup until you get to 1 cup total. Now pour in balsamic vinegar until reads 1 1/2 cups total (thats 1/2 cup vinegar). Add in 1 tablespoons dijon mustard, 1 tablespoon pure maple syrup, and 2 teaspoons kosher salt.
At this point I either scrape this all into a blender OR use an immersion blender. Blend until smooth and add a little bit of water to thin into a “dressing” consistency.
Store in a jar (ideally glass) in the refrigerator for up to one week.
This salad is: Arugula, romaine, red onion, olive, hearts of palm, tomatoes, ricotta salata and basil
makes 1 (9 inch) pie that serves 6-8