Eric Ripert's Midnight Snack
I first met Chef Eric Ripert when I interviewed him and photographed his beautiful Vacheron Constantin for my book A Man and His Watch. And I’ve been lucky enough to eat at his fantastic restaurant La Bernardin several times and am a very big fan of his cooking. So, when I was hammering out the first issue of Wm Brown I came up with this idea of asking chefs, restaurant owners and food personalities—what is their midnight snack? You know—you come home boozy, jet lagged, or just need a late night snack—I wanted to know what my food heroes make for themselves in these situations. So I sent an email to Chef Ripert and he was swift to reply with this riff on a carbonara. The French hack here that makes it so different from the Italian version is the cream fraiche—of course! And let me tell you, this is a fool-proof delicious version of the classic. If there was ever a reason to keep a tub of cream fraiche around in the fridge—just in case—it is for this late night indulgence. Since so many of you may have missed the first issue, which sold out, I thought it would be great to share the fantastic recipe with you here.
Pasta Carbonara
Serves 4
Ingredients
½ cup diced applewood-smoked bacon
2 cups crème fraîche
2 large egg yolks
1 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
Fine sea salt
8 ounces dried linguine
1½ cups freshly grated Parmesan cheese plus more for garnish
4 tablespoons thinly sliced fresh chives
Method
Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil over high heat.
Meanwhile, sauté the bacon in a large skillet over medium-low heat until crisp, about 10 minutes. Add the crème fraîche and bring to a simmer. Whisk the egg yolks into the sauce. Add the black pepper and season to taste with salt.
When ready to serve, cook the linguine in the boiling salted water until al dente. Drain the pasta and add it to the sauce. Stir in 1 1/2 cups of the Parmesan cheese and chives; let stand for 1 minute to allow all the flavors to blend.
Using a meat fork or carving fork, twirl a quarter of the pasta (for each serving) and place each swirl of pasta in the center of 4 bowls. Spoon some of the sauce over and around the pasta and top with more grated Parmesan cheese, as desired. Serve immediately.