Try Some Kosher Karbonara.

Recipe Adaptation: One of my favorite pre-Torah dishes was Spaghetti Carbonara, which traditionally includes both pork bacon and cheese. Obviously, that doesn't work in my new life, but it can be adapted to the kosher kitchen.

To do so, you first need to understand what's involved with a traditional carbonara. I've heard two explanations for the name, carbonara. The first is that the Italian for "carbon" is a reference to the coal-mining community that was fond of the dish. The second is that the word refers to the coal-like bits of coarse black pepper that are more or less essential. The steps to make traditional carbonara as I learned them.

1. Saute bacon, onions, a bit of onion in wine. I did this slowly.
2. Cook spaghetti. Other pastas will work.
3. Once spaghetti is cooked, transfer it to a dish containing a mix of a beaten egg or two and some parmesan cheese. Mix. The spaghetti will cook the egg mixture.
4. To serve, garnish with bacon and onion mix, more parmesan cheese.
5. Season to taste with coarse black pepper.

To come up with a suitable kosher version, you need to honor the basics of carbonara, to wit: Smokey flavor (easy), pasta cooked with egg (easy), coarse pepper (easy), cheese (a little tricky for meat version). Try these adaptations:

• Meat: Instead of pork bacon, substitute kosher Beef-Frye, summer sausage, Italian sausage, or ground beef or turkey and add the "smoky" flavor with kosher Liquid Smoke. For oil, you can use chicken fat or vegetable oil. Instead of cheese, use parve bread crumbs. This is not as much of a compromise as it may seem. Bread crumbs are commonly used instead of cheese in pasta in some parts of Italy, but you should add them after you mix the pasta with the egg. Don't forget the coarse black pepper.
• Dairy: Instead of pork bacon, substitute a parve ground "sausage" like Gimme Lean combined with Liquid Smoke or smoked salmon.. For oil in your saute, you can use butter, parve margarine (yuk!), or vegetable oil. After that, assuming you can find kosher parmesan or a good substitute, it's just like the traditional carbonara
• Bonus Tip: Instead of Liquid Smoke, you can sprinkle on some parve Baco-Bits to get that smoky flavor.

--Schueller House.