Spaghetti Cohobonara
A classic carbonara is one of my all-time favorite ways to indulge. I love that it requires only a handful of ingredients and comes together in little more time than it takes to boil pasta. One might assume that the predominant flavor of this dish is whatever cured, fatty pork it calls for; guanciale, pancetta, or even bacon. However, the loudest note in this song is not actually bacon, it’s smoke, which means when you sub the bacon for smoked salmon it doesn’t just remind you of a carbonara, it truly IS a carbonara. I highly recommend using the smoked coho from Wildfish Cannery!
1 tin Wildfish Cannery smoked coho salmon
½ lb spaghetti
2 eggs
1.5 oz aged parmesan, finely grated
6 tbs EVOO
fresh cracked black pepper
kosher salt
Get a large pot of heavily salted water going on high heat. As it comes to temperature, grab a metal or glass mixing bowl that is wide enough to function as a double boiler on the pot of water. Remember, when double boiling, the bottom of the bowl should not touch the water, just steam. If you don’t have a bowl that will work for this, fill a second, smaller pot with an inch of water and use that instead.
Whisk the eggs in a mixing bowl until they are well-beaten. Whisk in the grated parmesan until it is well incorporated.
Crack the tin of Wildfish coho salmon. Allow the smoky aroma to invade your senses. Now taste a piece and shake your head in fishbelief. Using a fork or tweezers, carefully transfer the salmon from the tin to a board. You want to do this vs. simply dumping the contints on the board because there remains some marvelous juice in the tin that we’ll use in the recipe.
Using a sharp knife, carefully slice the salmon into 1 cm size pieces. The meat is extremely delicate so it will undoubtedly fall apart a little bit, don’t worry about having perfect cubes.
When the water is boiling, bring your egg mixture bowl into position as a double boiler and vigorously whisk until the cheese starts to melt. Be careful not to overheat the bowl which would result in scrambled eggs. Periodically move the bowl away from the pot if necessary to adjust temp, always whisking until the cheese is completely melted and the mix has thinned to the cansistency of maple syrup. Set mixture aside for later away from heat.
Put the spaghetti in the water cook to package directions until al dente. Meanwhile put a large skillet over medium heat. Once hot, add half the olive oil. Add the salmon and cook without stirring until one side has started to take on some crust. Flip as best you are able to. Some will likely stick, that’s okay we’ll deglaze later. After about 3-4 minutes, remove the salmon from the pan and as much of the fond as possible.
Add more oil to the pan and turn to high heat. Add a ladle of pasta water and use your spoon or spatula to free the fond from the bottom. Add the remaining tin liquid and crack in a healthy dose of black pepper, about a half-teaspoon, and stir until the liquid reduces by about half.
Turn the pan to low and once the pasta is cooked quickly transfer it to the pan and mix until the spaghetti is well coated and a glossy sauce begins to form.
Turn the pan off and pour over the egg-cheese mix and mix continuously until the sauce thickens and coats all of the pasta. If it feels too tight, add a dash of pasta water. If too loose, keep stirring to let steam.
Plate in your favorite bowls and finish with more fresh cracked pepper. Serve immediately.
Canjoy!
Serves 2-4
