New Orleans Carbonara
New Orleans Carbonara
Here’s a great way to use tasso ham; especially if you happened to have made too much of it. We’re going to bring some Louisiana flavor into the carbonara world. Italian carbonara is just sautéed pancetta tossed with pasta, eggs, and parmesan. For this recipe, I replaced pancetta with tasso ham. You can also add chicken, shrimp, or crawfish to the pasta to have another protein. As far as pasta, you can use really any shape that you want. I had a box of penne regatta in the cupboard, so that’s what I used. The best part of this dish is that once you’ve boiled your pasta al dente, the carbonara is ready in 10 minutes.
Ingredients
- 2 tbsp olive oil
- 1 lb tasso ham diced
- 1 small onion chopped
- 6 garlic cloves sliced
- 1 lb pasta cooked according to package directions
- 1/2 cup pasta water
- 3 large eggs beaten
- 1/2 cup parmesan cheese grated
- salt to taste
Garnish
- parsley chopped
Instructions
- Heat up olive oil in a large sauté pan over medium high heat. Sauté the tasso ham for 5 minutes to tender out the fat.
- Add in the onions and garlic. Sauté for 3 minutes.
- Stir in the pasta with the tasso ham. Pour in a 1/2 cup of pasta water. Sauté for 1 minute.
- Turn off the heat. Stir in the eggs and parmesan cheese, making sure that the pasta is evenly coated. Season with salt to taste. Garnish with parsley.
Tasso Ham
Tasso ham is a Louisiana specialty. Instead of using a pork leg, pork shoulder is cured, dry rubbed with what is pretty much andouille sausage seasoning, and smoked. The result is a spicy, fatty, ham shoulder that is used in numerous cajun recipes such as jambalaya, gumbo, etouffee, beans and rice, and many more.
Equipment
- Electric Smoker
Ingredients
- 5 lbs boneless pork shoulder cut into 1” thick steaks
- 8 oz sea salt
- 4 oz sugar
- 2 tbsp pink curing salt
- 1/4 cup white pepper
- 1/4 cup cayenne pepper
- 2 tbsp marjoram
- 2 tbsp allspice
- 2 tbsp garlic powder
- 2 tbsp thyme
Wood Chips
- hickory wood chips
Instructions
- Mix together the salt, sugar, and curing salt.
- Dredge each of the pork steaks in the curing mixture.
- Place the pork steaks on a baking pan. Wrap in foil and let cure in the refrigerator for 4 hours.
- After 4 hours, rinse off the cure on each of the pork steaks. Pat dry with paper towels.
- Mix together the white pepper, cayenne, thyme, garlic powder, allspice, and marjoram.
- Season both sides of the pork steaks.
- Preheat your smoker to 225 degrees. Place the pork steaks into the smoker. Smoke for 2 hours until the internal temp reaches 150 degrees.
- Let the tasso cool completely before use.
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