I was told I should cross-post this over here. While I did not have guanciale to make the dish – I actually think it works without. It's all about the technique. And, honestly, it shockingly works if you want to play with the basic formula a hair. So hear me out!
Here's the story: So, my daughter has recently become obsessed with the idea of using Flamin' Hot Cheetos as an ingredient, and has been sending me ideas. One was for a pasta sauce (we can't do the store-bought flamin' hot mac and cheese as she is celiac, so have to do our own thing – ask me about GF pasta brands, as I have found some real winners!) – But, the pasta sauce recipe she sent me was tomato-based and I didn't think the flavor pairing would work. You'd need something creamy-ish to make it work, but, we didn't want to load it down with cheddar or another strong flavored cheese. The answer: the basic technique of a carbonara.
The creaminess of the egg yolk, a little parm to dial it up, and it seemed like a natural combo. I went pretty minimal (no cured meat – guanciale or otherwise – because this was a last minute request) which worked out well as it let the flavor come through. Overall, I'm pretty happy with it, weirdly enough. And the color is unreal. I have to work on it a bit more, as the sauce was too tight (the Cheeto dust absorbs the liquid from the egg yolks), so I'd dial up the pasta water, I think. Or I might use one whole egg and then 3 yolks next time. But, here's what I did:
- Beat 4 egg yolks with 4 tbsp grated parm, a pinch of salt, and a few scrunches of pepper.
- Blend or crush one bag of Flamin' hot cheetos to dust. Add to the egg mixture and beat in. It will be fairly solid – that's OK. Although this is where I thought using at least 1 or more whole eggs instead might have been a good idea.
- Cook noodles as directed in well salted water.
- When noodles are almost done, temper the egg mixture with pasta water and beat into an emulsion. Should be nice and pourable, but you can control the sauce texture more in the next step.
- Reserving 2 cups of pasta water, drain the rest, and return to empty pot. Add egg mixture and toss, adding pasta water as needed to get to the desired sauce consistency.
Serve, topped with more blended (or even some whole) Flamin' Hot Cheetos.
In the future, I'd add some parsley in as well for contrast as is in Giulliano Hazan's recipe. A mild cured meat would work well, but you don't want to overpower the other flavors. I don't think I'd go in with a shallot, as the sweetness that can give wouldn't work either.
Honestly, try it! You'll be surprised!
by jebyrnes