Much can be made of pasta but ultimately its beauty lies in its simplicity. In its most basic form, fresh pasta is simply flour plus hydration in the form of water or eggs.
The simple act of making pasta is an act of love. Watch any nonna make pasta and this is abundantly clear. Pasta feeds people. It can be the easiest meal to prepare or the most intensive labour of love. It can have just three or four ingredients. It can showcase the finest truffles or wild mushrooms, decadent and special. But ultimately it feeds people, lots of people.
The world of pasta is seemingly endless. There are more shapes than you could name and, confusingly, there are often multiple names for the exact same shape, but the four elements of any pasta dish are the same; shape, starch, sauce and fat. Bringing these all together in the pan is the best way to finish a pasta dish.
Alla carbonara is the purest example of this alchemy at work. Guanciale (fat) is rendered in a frypan until crispy. Pasta (shape) is boiled in heavily salted water. Eggs
