Recipe courtesy of My Year in Meals and My Year in Cocktails
- 1/2 cup mixed fresh herbs: parsley, chives, thyme
- Grated zest of 1 lemon
- 1/4 cup EVOO
- 1/4 pound pancetta or guanciale, finely diced
- salt and coarsely ground pepper
- 4 cloves garlic, finely chopped
- 1/2 cup dry white wine
- 1 pound egg tagliatelle or spaghetti
- 3 large egg yolks
- 1/2 cup grated Pecorino Romano cheese
- Finely chop the herbs and combine with the lemon zest (this is the gremolata).
- Bring a large pot of water to boil for the pasta.
- Meanwhile, in a large skillet, heat the EVOO (4 turns of the pan) over medium heat. Add the pancetta or guanciale, season with pepper, and cook until browned, 2 to 3 minutes. Stir in the garlic, reduce the heat a bit, and stir another 2 to 3 minutes. Add the wine.
- Salt the boiling water and cook the pasta to al dente. Ladle out 1 cup of the starchy pasta cooking water and beat into the egg yolks to warm them.
- Drain the pasta and toss with the garlic and pancetta and the warm egg yolks. Sprinkle in half the cheese and continue tossing 1 minute more. Serve in shallow bowls with the remaining cheese and the herb gremolata sprinkled over the top.
My notes: I tempered the egg yolks as I added them to the pasta water. I was afraid they’d end up cooking. Either that, or you can let the pasta water cool enough so that they don’t.
This looks like a delightful spring dish.
Thanks, Mom2! It was awesome. Going to make it again soon. 🙂
It was very good. The herbs brightened it so that it wasn’t too heavy.