Seafood carbonara

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PRESENTATION

Seafood carbonara

Spaghetti alla carbonara is a classic Roman dish that is well loved throughout Italy, its creamy sauce enveloping the spaghetti providing a real treat for the taste buds. There are some versions inspired by the traditional carbonara, including vegetarian and vegetable versions, but today we’re going to try a seafood one by replacing the guanciale with fish! This seafood carbonara is made with a mix of three tasty varieties of fish: salmon, tuna, and swordfish, all cut into small cubes and sautéed. The result: a rich and creamy dish with an intense aroma that’s guaranteed to be a hit with any fish-loving friends. If you really want to end the meal on a high, you could even use the leftover egg whites to make a soft angel food cake or sweet meringues!

You may also like our other tasty variations of carbonara:

INGREDIENTS
Spaghetti 11 oz (320 g)
Tuna 3.5 oz (100 g)
Swordfish 3.5 oz (100 g)
Salmon 3.5 oz (100 g)
Egg yolks 6
Parmigiano Reggiano PDO cheese ½ cup (60 g)
White wine ¼ cup (60 g)
Garlic 1 clove
Thyme 6 sprigs
Extra virgin olive oil to taste
Fine salt to taste
Black pepper to taste
Preparation

How to prepare Seafood carbonara

To prepare the seafood carbonara, start by heating the water for the pasta and salting it as soon as it comes to a boil. Meanwhile, separate the eggs. You’ll need 6 yolks 1 for this recipe. Pour into a bowl and add the grated Parmigiano Reggiano cheese 2, pepper, salt, and thyme leaves 3.

Beat with a whisk 4, then dilute with a little of the pasta cooking water 5. Make sure there are no bones in the salmon and remove the skin from the swordfish 6,

then cut the tuna 7, salmon 8, and swordfish 9 into cubes around 1 inch (2.5 cm) in size.

By this point the water should be at a boil 10. Toss in the pasta and undercook it by a couple of minutes. In the meantime, heat a little oil in a pan, and add the whole peeled garlic clove. Once the sauce is hot, add the fish cubes 11 and fry over high heat for around 1 minute. Remove the garlic 12,

add the white wine 13 and let it simmer. Once the alcohol has evaporated, remove the fish cubes with a skimmer 14, set aside, and lower the heat. Once the pasta is al dente, take a ladleful of water 15 and pour it into the pan,

drain the spaghetti, and add that too 16. Thicken for around 1 minute, stirring continuously 17 to release the starches from the pasta, adding some cooking water if necessary. Pour in the egg yolk mixture 18

and the fish cubes 19. Stir well and add a little more water from the pasta if necessary 20. Your seafood carbonara is ready. Plate it up while still piping hot and garnish with grated cheese and pepper to taste 21.

Storage

We recommend eating this seafood carbonara right away.

Not recommended for freezing.

Tips

Just like with a traditional carbonara, you can also replace the spaghetti with mezzemanica, rigatoni, or paccheri pasta in this version if you prefer. If you want to stick with tradition, however, you should use Pecorino cheese. If you do, we’d recommend substituting ? of the Parmigiano Reggiano cheese to avoid making the dish too rich. 

 

You might even like to experiment with different versions of the dish using other types of fish, maybe even smoked!

Interesting fact

Our seafood carbonara is more a “nautical” version of the classic carbonara. The pieces of fish are, in fact, reminiscent of the guanciale cubes typically used. There’s also a version of seafood carbonara that’s very famous in Tuscany, and in Viareggio in particular.

For the translation of some texts, artificial intelligence tools may have been used.