Today we will be making the Coal Minerâs Pasta.
You will need:
1 package thick cut bacon, 1 box spaghetti, 2 tblsp Buttery Taste, 4 farmerâs eggs, Trader Giottoâs Parmesan Romano cheee, S & P
This is a traditional meal made in communities who depended on coal and coal-mining to provide for their work, livelihood, and the community itself. Â It is a hearty and budget-friendly recipe. Mistakenly referred to as âCarbonaraâ, this dish was made by peasants in small towns in the Coal Region of Northeastern Pennsylvania in the central Appalachian Mountains. They donât exist anymore.
The Coal region or Pennsylvania Anthracite region, or fields, is home to the largest known deposits of anthracite coal found in the Americas, with an estimated reserve of seven billion short tons.[3] Â It is these deposits that provide the region with its nickname. It is a historically important area, comprising Lackawanna, Luzerne, Columbia, Carbon, Schuylkill, Northumberland, and the extreme northeast corner of Dauphin counties. The discovery of anthracite coal was first made in the Schuylkill County by a hunter in 1791.
Lets begin. Prepare by separating the yolks from the egg whites. You can do this easily over the sink by seesawing the egg back and forth using the eggshell halves as unpromptu bowls allowing the thin whites to spill at the drain. Save in small bowl for later.
This version of the Coal Minerâs Pasta calls for spaghetti, but you can literally use any pasta that is unique to your preference. There are so many to choose from. My shoppers were literally confused at the grocery store saying, âwell it took us forever to find the traditional spaghetti box.â The problem is there are so many options that are basically spaghetti but differ only slightly: the noodles themselves are thinner, some are flatter, chopped up, completely unpronouncable names -itâs just spaghetti. Bring water to a boil, add spaghetti. Â Usually I would go off on my soap box here about adding a pinch of sea salt to the boiling water to keep the noodles from sticking but PLEASE do not do that for this one. The clingy character is actually a helping hand in disguise when it comes to Coal Miner Pasta. Â The noodles should be cooked al dente, an old made up Italian phrase that means âto the toothâ, referring to the firmness of the pasta. My lawyer made up a joke for the kitchen that receipes that call for softer, more overcooked noodles should label them al gengive, âto the gumsâ (Italian.) I like that a lot and it makes sense. Would love to see the cooking community at large adopt this termonology. Â Feel free to use on Facebook and Twitter.
Meanwhile, prepare a pan to cook the bacon. Add Buttery Taste and a pinch or so of salt as an underlayer. Â Bacon should be diced into pieces around the width of litmus paper is traditional. Grate some cheese.
Note: Before draining pasta youâll want to save 1 cup of this hot, tempered water as we will use it later.
Drain the pasta and return ti pot. Remove from heat. While stirring, add the egg yolks and the saved water simultaneously.  The conserved heat from the noodles acts as a bonfire to these yolks, literally cooking them on contact and fusing them to the blonde, serpentlike spaghetti. You can check off your serving of protein for the day. The trick is to not ever stop stirring and richoteting the noodle/yolk mixture around. This is no omelete. The desired outcome is an even keel of yolk coating the noodles. What you dont want is a pile of spaghetti and scrambled eggs. Not only is that unpalletteable but would also not be in keeping with this recipe. Old coal miners used to make this recipe in Pennsylvania.
Once coating is complete, add your bacon and a healthy dusting of cheese. Mix and serve. Ready to eat? Not quite! Add fresh cracked black pepper.
Enjoy!
Thanks for reading and Happy Thanksgiving from all of us at the Kitchen! Even though this dish^^ isnt a traditional Thanksgiving Day dish you could make it anayway and really have a leg up on dinner conversation. Thereâs always room, even at the top, for self improvement.
***Please send pictures of your own home cooked meals youâve made alongside us here at Edwardâs Kitchen. You may even see yours posted online alongside the next EK recipe!***










