Carbonara alla vignarola

The Roman restaurant scene, by and large, is fairly conservative. Restaurants, especially the more informal ones called trattorie, osterie or taverne that I tend to enjoy more than fancy ristoranti, tend to favor the classic Roman pastas and other traditional dishes. It has to be said that this can lead to a certain sameness from one menu to another.

But Romans aren’t completely adverse to culinary innovation. The highlight of my last trip to Rome was this ‘fusion’ dish called carbonara alla vignarola I ate at a taverna tucked away on a side street close to the Forum. The place was a pleasant surprise, serving real deal Roman food in an area packed with tourist traps, and the dish was a true revelation. Without exaggeration, it was the most delicious thing I’d tasted in a good while.

Carbonara alla vignarola isn’t a fusion of cuisines, of course. It’s a fusion of two iconic Roman dishes: pasta alla carbonara and vignarola, a medley of spring vegetables. I’d had vegetarian versions of carbonara before with zucchini or artichokes, but this was on a whole other level. For one thing, although there were lots of vegetables, this carbonara alla vignarola isn’t vegetarian, with its savory flavor base of guanciale, cured pork jowl, which makes sense since it figures in both carbonara and vignarola. Then there was the wonderful blend of flavors in the vignarola, which the egg and cheese finish complimented perfectly. This is one of those flavor combinations that are just meant to be.

Carbonara alla vignarola is a good example of the kind of spot on incremental innovation I enjoy, whether it’s combining two familiar dishes together, like pasta alla zozzona, which is essentially a fusion of carbonara and amatriciana, or finding interesting riffs on the classics, like gricia con carciofi, which adds thinly sliced artichokes to the classic Roman pasta.

Italian food culture is sometimes criticized (including by certain Italians like the notorious Alberto Grandi) as being ‘sclerotic’—too tied to tradition, real or imagined, and too afraid to innovate. There may be a grain of truth to that criticism, but in fact Italian food does evolve over time, mostly through incremental innovations like this one. And personally I prefer this kind of innovation—the kind that works within familiar parameters to come up with something new yet familiar—rather than the anything goes approach, throwing together ingredients at random without regard to cultural or historical context, in the name of ‘creativity’. That kind of innovation, it seems to me, is more about ego than creativty.

But that’s a story for another day. For now, I’d invite you to savor this newly coined pasta that’s destined to be a classic.

Ingredients

Serves 4-6

• 400g (14 oz) rigatoni or other pasta (see Notes)
• salt

For the vignarola:

• 100g (3-1/2 oz) guanciale, cut into dice
• 2 spring onions, trimmed and thinly sliced
• 1 large or 2 small artichokes, trimmed and cut into wedges (about 150g/5 oz after trimming)
• 150g (5 oz) shelled green peas
• 150g (5 oz) shelled and peeled fava beans
• A sprig or two of fresh mint
• olive oil or lard

For the carbonara finish:

• 5 egg yolks
• 4 Tbs freshly grated pecorino romano cheese, or to taste
• Freshly ground black pepper

Directions

Prep the vegetables

Trim and cut the artichoke into very thin wedges. Immerse the wedges in acidulated water until needed.

If using fresh fava beans in their pods, remove them from their pods and peel off their skins (see Notes for details). If using fresh peas, remove them from their pods as well.

Prepare the vignarola

In a large pan, sauté the guanciale very gently in a drizzle of olive oil (or a small dab of lard) until it has lightly browned and rendered most of its fat.

Add the spring onions and sauté for a minute or two, until soft and translucent.

Add the artichoke wedges to the pan, mix them with the onion and sauté gently for a minute. Then add a small ladleful of water and let them simmer for 5 minutes or so, until semi-tender. 

Now add the fava beans and (if using fresh) the peas, season with salt and pepper, mix, and sauté for another minute.

Add ladleful or two of water, enough to almost cover the vegetables. Cover and simmer gently for another 5 minutes.

Now uncover the pot and add the mint and (if using frozen) the peas, mix, and simmer uncovered until the vegetables are perfectly tender but not mushy. There should still be a fair amount of liquid in the pan.

Cook the pasta

Meanwhile, boil the pasta in well salted water until al dente.

Finish the dish

Transfer the cooked pasta to the pan with the vignarola. Mix and let them simmer together for a minute or two tossing from time to time so the pasta and vegetables are well mixed.

Meanwhile, whisk the egg yolks, grated pecorino and black pepper together until you have a smooth paste.

Remove the pasta and vignarola from the heat. Wait a few moments for the pot to cool down a bit, then add the egg mixture to the pan and toss together until the egg yolk thickens just enough to form a creamy coating.

Serve immediately. Have some additional grated pecorino on the side for those who want it.

Notes on carbonara alla vignarola

Making carbonara alla vignarola involves multiples steps, but none of them is particularly difficult. If you’ve made carbonara and vignarola, then this dish should be a cinch. The dish is essentially a fusion of these two classic dishes, after all. If you have any doubts, go ahead and check those recipes for some useful cooking tips.

There are also a few additional details to bear in mind:

First, this recipe uses less cheese than you would for a typical carbonara, so as not to overwhelm the flavor of the vegetables. If you’re a cheese maven, you can always add more or top the dish with a good sprinkle.

Second, make sure to slice your artichokes very thin, as large wedges would make for awkward eating with pasta (especially ribbon pastas if you’re using one).

Third, that short wait before adding the egg yolks is critical to let thing cool down slightly. Otherwise you risk scrambling the egg yolks.

And finally, make sure to leave the vignarola rather brothy, adding pasta water if need be, so that when you add the egg yolks it forms a creamy (not sticky) sauce. Don’t overdo it, of course. You want a sauce and not a soup. If you find you have overdone it, then place the pot back on the stove, over the barest flame, and stir until the sauce thickens.

The other challenge in preparing carbonara alla vignarola, depending where you live, is sourcing the ingredients. In my area, you won’t find most of the ingredients in your average supermarket. But there are places you can probably find them and substitutes if you don’t:

Guanciale

If you want to give your carbonara alla vignarola that typically Roman flavor, do take the time to seek out guanciale. You can usually find it at Italian delis and, as it become more popular, even in some more upscale supermarkets. It is also available from several online sources.

The thing to bear in mind about guanciale is that it tends to smoke and burn more easily than either pancetta or bacon, so as instructed, cook it over very gentle heat. I like to “cheat” and add a drizzle of olive oil or a dab of lard, which I find really cuts down on the smoke.

If you can’t find guanciale, then pancetta provides an acceptable if not entirely DOC substitute. And even better in my opinion, salt pork seasoned with freshly ground pepper and stored uncovered in the fridge for a couple of days to dry. I would not suggest bacon, however. Its smokey flavor would take over and unbalance the flavors in the dish.

Artichokes

As I’ve written about before, it can be a challenge to find good fresh artichokes. Look for ones with unblemished, tightly packed leaves. Fresh artichokes need to be trimmed of their tough outer leaves and choke. For detailed instructions, see this post.

Frozen artichoke wedges can make an acceptable substitute if you can’t find good fresh whole ones. You’ll need to soak them to remove their acidity, then cut the wedges in half or possibly thinner.

Fava beans

Fresh fava beans are not easy to source where I live. If I’m lucky I sometimes find them at the more upscale supermarkets near me, at our local Latino supermarket or at our local farmers market. You can also look for frozen fava beans, which you can find in some supermarkets, especially those catering to a Latino or Middle Eastern clientele. Otherwise, frozen lima beans or shelled edamame (aka mukimame) can be used with a substitute.

Fresh fava beans need removing from their pods like fresh peas. Then you need to peel them, which is rather a fussy business. See this post for details.

Peas

I usually use frozen rather than fresh peas. As I’ve commented before, I find them superior to the fresh ones I can find where I live, which tend to be rather mealy. If you do use frozen peas, hold them back as instructed so they don’t overcook.

Spring onions

Spring onions are ideal for this dish. They have a wonderfully delicate flavor and, of course, are de rigueur for making a proper vignarola. In my area, I can find them (sometimes) at better supermarkets or else in those catering to a Latino clientele. Shallots or white onion make acceptable substitutes. And if all else fails then half of a good old fashioned yellow onion will do the trick.

Pasta

The carbonara alla vignarola I had in Rome was made with rigatoni, which is a classic choice for standard carbonara. It pairs quite well with this rather chunky sauce. You could use another short pasta like pennoni (large penne) in its place, or even paccheri—more Neapolitan than Roman but it would work nicely here. Personally, I’d avoid long pastas like spaghetti or linguine for a chunky sauce like this one, although a ribbon pasta like fettuccine would work fine.

Variations

Personally I think it’s a good move not to include it, but I’ve seen recipes for carbonara alla vignarola that use the entire classic vignarola recipe, including the lettuce. I would also think that some asparagus, cut into short lengths, could be a rather nice addition.

La cucina italiana has a vegetarian version of this dish which omits the guanciale and combines peas, fava beans and, to my surprise at least, baby zucchini.

Making carbonara alla vignarola ahead

Like most pasta dishes, carbonara alla vignarola doesn’t lend itself to making ahead. But this dish is especially important to make at the last minute as that egg yolk finish would be all too easy to scramble on reheating. That said, you can certainly make the vignarola ahead and, when you’re ready to eat, proceed from there to cook the pasta and finish the dish.