Silky XO Spaghetti

This is definitely not a carbonara, but if you like carbonara then you're probably gonna love it.

5 minutes prep

15 minutes cook

Serves 2

Tom Jackson

Ingredients

Pasta:

3medium egg yolks

75gparmesan

1 heaped tspXO sauce (or chilli oil)

1/2 tspfreshly ground black pepper

100gsmoked pancetta

3 clovesgarlic

225gspaghetti

small knob (optional)butter

Parmesan crumb:

1 sheettoasted nori

30gparmesan

1/2 tsplime zest

1 heaped tsptoasted sesame seeds

It's Alphabetti letter X, and we've got a beauty for you here. Combine silky pasta with Chinese XO sauce and what you end up with is something very delicious indeed. We're talking cheesy, buttery egg yolky pasta mixed with all those gorgeously umami flavours from the XO. You've gotta try it.

Method

In a small bowl, combine the egg yolks, parmesan, XO sauce and black pepper.

Place the pancetta in a cold sauté pan and place over a low flame with the whole garlic cloves. When the fat has rendered and the pancetta is crisp, remove and discard the garlic and pour the rendered fat into the egg mixture and mix again.

Cook the pasta in salty boiling water 1 min shy of al dente then lift directly into the pancetta pan and add the butter (if using). Add a ladle of pasta water to the egg mixture and beat again - it should now be relatively smooth. Pour over the pasta and toss very well, adding more pasta water to loosen if necessary.

Blitz together the crumb ingredients in a blender and shower over the pasta! Enjoy!