Carbonara with Saffron

By t1bishop

This is the meal John requests every
birthday and at least once a month in
between. The saffron stock version is
the latest and, I think, the last-he's so
hooked on it he won't let it be messed
with any further.

Ingredients

• Salt and pepper
• 1 pound linguine, tagliatelle or
• egg tagliatelle pasta
• 1 1/2 cups chicken stock
• 1/4 teaspoon saffron (2 pinches)
• 3 tablespoons extra-virgin
• olive oil (EVOO)
• 3/4 pound thick-cut pancetta (from the deli counter). chopped into %-inch dice
• 4 cloves garlic, finely chopped
• 1/2 cup dry white wine
• 2 teaspoons turmeric (2/3 palmful)
• 3 egg yolks
• 1/2 to 2/3 cup grated pecorino romano cheese, plus more to pass around the table
• A generous handful of flat-leaf
• parsley, finely chopped

Details

Servings 4

Preparation

Step 1

1. Bring a large pot of water to a
boil, salt it, add the pasta and cook
until al dente. Drain, reserving a
ladleful of pasta cooking water.
2. In a small saucepan, bring the
chicken stock and saffron to a boil
over medium-high heat. Lower the
heat and simmer until reduced.
3. Meanwhile, in a large skillet, heat
the EVOO, 3 tums of the pan, over
medium heat. Add the pancetta
and cook until just crisp, 5 minutes.
Stir in the garlic for 1 or 2 minutes,
then stir in the wine and turmeric.
4. Beat the egg yolks with the
reserved pasta cooking water. Add
the pasta to the skillet. Pour in the
saffron stock and toss; season with
pepper. Tum off the heat and stir in
the egg yolks, cheese and parsley.
Pass extra cheese at the table.