no-stir oven risotto alla carbonara
I ♥ carbonara, but I do not especially love rules, and carbonara is real Rule Food. There is one right way to make it, and then 23402394 wrong “hacks” for it that persist on the internet. The correct egg ratio is confirmed by science. There is never cream, butter, shallot, garlic, or herb present. Parm is for amateurs and plebs who aren’t hip to pecorino. It requires special hard-to-find pork, although that element is a tiny bit more flexible because this is America.
Obviously, a risotto-ifiation of this dish is going to be a stretch. Doing the risotto in the oven is straight up heresy. But once you broke the fundamental rule that carbonara is a pasta dish, the house had already fallen down. So why not do something sexy with the wreckage?
Oven risotto is a beautiful cheat that I first learned here and have since moved to almost exclusively. It isn’t totally hands-off, but it’s close. It’s also great house-date food. Risotto SOUNDS romantic and flirty and cute to cook together together, but in reality it is a lot of one person stirring while the other luxuriates over their wine at the counter, thinking about how much they love you but are glad they aren’t the one glued to the stove. On a date with yourself, your jazzy Cooking Music soundtrack starts to get drowned out at the 15-minute continuous-stir mark with the sounds of there is no fucking way this is worth it while your cat stares at you, confirming its suspicions that humans are freaks.
In this one, nobody stirs, which leaves everyone involved free to drink wine and chill. Something to think about given Valentine’s Day is coming, after all, and chances are good you’re not going anywhere. Set up an intimate bar at your counter. Fold real cloth napkins and light a pretty candle. Use the hand-wash glassware because whatever. You’re on a date at your 10 star restaurant and nowhere else would be quite the same. ♥
RECIPE
Carbonara and risotto: iconic alone, even better together. Hands-off, no-stir risotto is baked in the oven before being stirred together with classic carbonara ingredients: eggs, pancetta, and pecorino cheese.
Effortful time: 10 minutes
Total time: 45 minutes
Serves 2
YOU NEED
For the oven risotto
2 tbsp. butter
1 medium shallot, finely diced
1 1/2 cups arborio rice
1 cup dry white wine
3 cups chicken broth, heated
Tiny bit of salt
Pepper to taste
To make it carbonara
4 oz pancetta (or guanciale if you can find it!), diced
2 egg yolks, whites discarded
2 tbsp. heavy cream
1/3 cup grated pecorino cheese
More shaved pecorino for the top
Lots of freshly ground black pepper
MAKE IT
Get prepped. Preheat your oven to 350°F. Dice your shallots and heat your stock for the risotto. Crack and separate your eggs; dice your pancetta if it didn’t come that way.
Assemble the risotto. Add everything on the “risotto” list to a 9-10” oven-safe pan (for a size/shape reference, I use this little guy). Make sure your stock is HOT. Cover and bake, 35-40 minutes (check at 35). How long this takes depends on how hot you got your stock. You want it to look loose and soupy, not tight and starchy, but the rice should be tender.
25 minutes into the baking time, begin to prep your carbonara. Heat a skillet over medium-high heat. Add the pancetta and cook for 2 minutes, then lower the heat to low and cook gently for 8-10 more minutes, until the fat has fully rendered and the pancetta is crispy. Set a few tbsp. of pancetta to the side.
Create the egg mixture. Whisk together the eggs, cream, grated pecorino cheese, and pepper in a measuring cup. Set aside.
Finish the risotto. Once the risotto is the right consistency and HOT, remove it from the oven and put the pot on the stove (no heat). Immediately add the pancetta (minus what you reserved) and 1 tsp. of the fat from the pan into the risotto pot and stir well. Then pour in the egg/cheese mixture. Stir for at least a minute to fully combine. If for any reason it’s not tightening up the way you’d like, add a sprinkling more cheese and stir 1 minute longer over the lowest possible heat. If it’s looking too thick and no longer pooling when you stir, add another splash of hot water to loosen it back up.
Serve it up. Plate in bowls with reserved pancetta on top, extra shaved cheese, and more pep.