Summer Carbonara
Carbonara meets the farmers market: roasted cherry tomatoes, sweet corn, crispy bacon, herbs and a silky egg sauce. Summer in a bowl.
Ingredients
- 2 pintheirloom or cherry tomatoes
- 2 tbspextra-virgin olive oilplus more for serving
- ½ cupchopped fresh herbsI use basil, oregano, and dill
- 4garlic clovesminced or grated
- Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper
- 1 lbbucatini pasta
- 4thick-cut bacon sliceschopped
- 3large eggsbeaten
- ¾ cupfreshly grated Parmesan cheese
- 3ears corngrilled, roasted, or boiled and kernels sliced from the cob
- Zest and juice of ½ lemon
- ¼ cupchopped fresh thyme or oreganoplus more for serving
- pinchof crushed red pepper flakes
- 8 ozburrata cheeseoptional
Instructions
- Heat the oven to 400°F.
- In a 9 x 13-inch baking dish, toss the cherry tomatoes with the olive oil, ¼ cup of the herbs, half the garlic and a generous sprinkle of salt and pepper. Roast 10 to 15 minutes, until the tomatoes collapse. Take them out and add the remaining ¼ cup herbs.
- Meanwhile, bring a large pot of salted water to a boil over high heat and cook the pasta until al dente, according to the package.
- While the pasta cooks, cook the bacon in a large skillet over medium until the fat renders and it's crispy, 2 to 3 minutes. Add the rest of the garlic and cook 30 seconds to 1 minute, until fragrant.
- Save ¼ cup of the pasta water, then drain the pasta and add it to the skillet with the bacon. Toss well and cook about 2 minutes, until warmed through.
- Beat the eggs and Parmesan together in a medium bowl. Take the pasta off the heat, pour the egg mixture over, and toss quickly until the sauce thickens without scrambling. Thin with a little pasta water, added slowly, until it's as loose as you like. Off the heat. I'm going to keep saying it. The pan's leftover heat is all the eggs need.
- Add the tomatoes with all their juices, the corn, lemon zest, lemon juice and thyme or oregano. Toss gently. Season with pepper, salt and red pepper flakes.
- Divide among plates and finish with a drizzle of olive oil, torn burrata if you like, and fresh herbs.
Kitchen's closed Scrape every drop of tomato juice out of that baking dish. That juice is the best thing in this recipe, and it's gone if you leave it.