Thursday, April 29, 2010

Cornman Farms :: Yolks extraordinaire




A gift of Cornman farms eggs directed dinner this evening. Once I cracked the beauties I knew that they had to be the centerpiece of our meal. As often happens, a last minute throw together becomes a new favorite. The technique and flavor of this is similar to a carbonara dish, but without the guanciale or bacon. You could certainly add the pork, but in this case it might mask the delicacy of spring asparagus.

Ingredients:
  • Six gorgeous eggs yolks. Saved the egg whites in a ball jar for another time.
  • One pound pasta, boiled in salted water.
  • Hand snapped fresh asparagus from Plum Market, blanched in the last two minutes of the boiling pasta.
  • 2 cups of reserved pasta water
  • One-two cups grated parmigiano reggiano. (start with one. add more to taste)
  • Two tablespoons freshly cracked black pepper.
Assembly:

Place yolks in large serving bowl. Pour drained pasta and asparagus on top of the yolks. Immediately toss. Toss again. Keep tossing, so that the yolks slowly coat the pasta. As you're tossing, slowly add 1/2 cup hot pasta water, watching the yolks then become a creamy yellow sauce instead of scrambled egg yolks. I admit that the timing and touch of this is a little bit difficult. You might have to add another 1/2 cup or more, and you will certainly need to use some gourmet intuition. Just put on your chef hat. Once you've noticed a sauce-like texture, it's time to add the parmigiano and black pepper. And toss gently until combined.


No comments: