Wednesday, May 6, 2009

Pope Pius's Personal Pasta - Pasta alla Papalina

I realized last night, while I was linking my posts together in last nights dinner of Strozzapreti, that even though I had referenced this dish, I had never blogged about it. Then it all became clear. The last time I made this, was right before I was sent out of town for 2 weeks to work in the Riverside office. Thus I never posted it. So, since it has come to my attention, I must make it now, and blog about it.

Papalina, or at least the way I learned it, is similar to Pasta alla Carbonara in preperation and basic ingredients. A cured meat, eggs, hot pasta and a flavorful aged cheese. Granted, Carbonara has a bit more punch with the Cracked Black Pepper and a slightly cleaner palate feel because of the Lemon Zest. But, don't let this deter you from making Papalina, as it is QUITE delicious in it's own right. All kinds of Buttery, Shalloty, Prosciuttoy, and Grana Padanoy. Yes, I know I am making up words... Hey, if it was good enough for Pope Pius the XII then it must be divinely inspired, right?

The real trick with the Papalina is that the construction of the sauce does take place in the pan and not on the pasta in layers like Pasta alla Carbonara. Just be careful not to over cook and scramble your eggs (the cheese and cream help to prevent this, but it is still possible. I know, I have done it. Though they were the tastiest scrambled eggs, ever!!)

Linguine alla Papalina

12 oz Linguine
4 oz butter
1 Shallot, diced
4 oz Prosciutto, diced
2 Eggs
1 Egg yolk
4 oz Grana Padano or Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese, freshly grated; Divided
3 TB heavy cream
Kosher salt and pepper

Cook pasta according to package directions... yaddah yaddah yaddah....
In a medium skillet over medium heat, melt 2 oz butter.
When the butter foams, add the shallot and prosciutto and sauté until the shallot is soft.

Remove from skillet and set aside

In a small bowl, beat the eggs, 2 oz of the Grana cheese, and the cream

Add the remaining of the butter to your skillet.

When the butter begins to foam, add the egg mix and either toss quickly or use a whisk to prevent curdle.

Add the sautéed prosciutto, salt and pepper. (beware of over salting, grana is salty and so is prosciutto)

Pour over warm linguine

Toss briskly, if the sauce seems a little too thick, either add a little pasta water, or a little warm cream.

Serve Immediately with remaining 2 oz of grated Grana Padano or Parmigiano-Reggiano.

Mangia!!
~~
Linguine on Foodista

9 comments:

  1. This looks sooo delicious! I could go for it right now!

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  2. Wow, that looks wicked good.

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  3. I've never tried this, heard of many times, though, and wondered what that would be! Since I love carbonara I'm sure I'd love this too. And guess what, I found out (contrary to what I said about your strozzapreti - I still think the same) that this dish is prepared with fetuccine (which you know are egg pasta)- and some like to add peas as well, which I think is nice, adding some colour contrast, altough they were not originally part of the recipe.

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  4. Michele - Thank you. I wish I could fax you some. ;)

    Bob - Thanks. It's one of my favs.

    Dajana - Thank you, I have thought about adding peas before, but it always seems that I am out of them. I probably should have hit it with some Parsley or Chervil or something... :)

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  5. All of your pasta dishes look so good!

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  6. How was the taste? I'm planning on doing this for my boyfriend's birthday, following the recipe from Diane Seed's book, which uses tagliatelle. I just want to know how it is in the taste department, like is it birthday-worthy? thanks a lot! :) it looks real yummy though.

    also, please check out my food blog http://angeldiamante.blogspot.com

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  7. Hi Angel, Thanks for stopping by. :) To me, it tastes like like a ham and cheese omelet poured over pasta. YUM! I think it would be "Birthday meal" worthy. It's not seen as much as Pasta Carbonara is, so that makes it special.

    I am on my way to check out your blog. Thanks for letting me know about it. :)

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  8. I'm more excited in doing it now! I'm curious though, why is your cheese splattered on the side, instead of on top (of the pasta)? :)

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  9. The garnishing cheese? Oh, I only did that for the photo, to make sure you could still see the meat in the complete dish. Normally I just sprinkle more cheese on top. :)

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