Cookaholics Bulletin Board

I had a very bad restaurant experience last night that I am still angry about. One of the things that made me really mad was my Carbonara was made with Angel Hair Pasta. All the pasta was broken into tiny pieces and it was basically mush. We waited for over an hour for our meals, so there was no sending it back. Has anybody every made Carbonara with any pasta thinner than spaghetti?

No, in fact I have always used linguine....like the flatter surface to hold onto the creamy sauce.

ilene

Sounds like a place to avoid in the future!
I use spaghetti or fettuccine myself.

Todd,

Capellini is definitely the wrong pasta for carbonara, for the reason you mentioned. Aside from the odd choice, it sounds to me like they overcooked it ... even capellini doesn't break up if it's al dente. I hope you sent it back.

For the record: linguine or fettuccine. I especially like making it with homemade fresh fettuccine. Spaghetti and spaghetti all chitarra also work. We tried doing it with bucatini once, but that didn't work well.

P.S. Why do you keep going to these terrible Italian restaurants? I know that you can cook better at home ...

I pretty much always make it with fresh fettuccine; it really soaks up any extra liquid and makes for a truly lovely dish. On one occasion I made it with spaghetti, and it was still pretty good

As fuzzy says, pasta should never be mushy, regardless of size, but I do prefer creamy thick sauces with more substantial pasta.

I use spagetti, linguine or fettuccine for Carbonara. Speaking of Carbonara who has a good recipe to share?

I like angel hair pasta, but it has limited use. I agree it must have been over cooked. I hate it when I have waited a long time for my food and then it is less than palitable. I know what you mean about sending it back, who wants to wait and everyone else has finished their meal.

You need to find a good restauant in the area and stick to it. I would think there would be some good places to eat around you. I miss Treasure Island in Saginaw. It was the best. To bad it has been gone for about 10 years now. It is rare I find a restaurant worth it's salt....


I will admit though that I too like to try new places and sometimes am disapointed. Even a good restuarant doesn't always hit the mark.
Laurie