Black pudding carbonara

I have a confession to make; when I made this a couple of months ago it was my first ever time making a carbonara and only my third time eating one. The first two had been courtesy of Carluccio’s and both had been horrible, I mean truly awful. I had my first after day two at a new job. I also had Gavi. I preferred the Gavi. Let’s just say day three wasn’t such fun.

But this, on the other hand, is fantastic. Perhaps not beautiful, but truly fantastic. The richness of the black pudding is cut through perfectly by the creaminess of the eggs and parmesan and the parsley lifts the dish to another level, adding freshness and well needed colour. I use Stornaway black pudding, which really is the Buluga of the black pudding world, but I am sure it would be delicious with any good brand.

The recipe really doesn’t call for a great deal of black pudding (thanks Gastronomic Girls for the tip) and I do think that beyond this point it would begin to over power and become too rich. It’s quality not quantity here. Frying the black pudding in slices before quartering and stirring through means you get a delicious contrast of crispy outer and soft middle. As you stir it in the black pudding starts to fall apart, coating the pasta and filling the whole dish with flavour.

As I mentioned I favour Stornaway black pudding and I have tried my fair share. I first had it at Field in Edinburgh, served in small cubes alongside chicken and I was sold. I hadn’t actually ordered the chicken myself, rather a delicious sea bass dish, but boy I wish I had! I now bulk buy it when I am up in Scotland and freeze it in slices, ready to have in this, added to cauliflower macaroni cheese or just fried for breakfast. Gosh it’s good.

As with any carbonara this is incredibly quick to make and surprisingly black pudding is available at my local Sainsbury’s meaning it has qualified for my Supermarket Suppers series, throughout which I hope to entice you away from ready meals and pasta pesto in favour of something that’s just as quick, far taster and made with easy to buy ingredients. I hope you enjoy.

Recipe

150g spaghetti/ linguine
1tsp oil
3 slices of black pudding (120g)
2 eggs
20g parmesan, grated, plus extra for on top
1/2 pack parsley (approximately 10g), leaves torn off and stems finely chopped

• Begin by cooking the spaghetti, for two minutes less than the packet suggests
• Heat a the little oil in a pan over a high heat, add the black pudding when hot and turn down to medium and cook for 3 minutes on each side
• As the pasta and black pudding cooks, in a little bowl, beat together the eggs and add the parmesan along with some seasoning
• Drain the pasta, reserving a few tablespoons of the cooking water
• Put the pasta back on to the hob on a very low heat and add the egg/ cheese mixture stirring constantly for half a minute before adding the black pudding and the reserved cooking water and cook, still stirring constantly, for another half minute before adding the parsley
• Serve immediately with extra parmesan on top.