Turn Instant Ramen Into An Italian-Inspired Comfort Food

Instant ramen is one of the easiest meals imaginable, but there's no reason to limit how it appears in your bowl, on your plate, or in your creative-cooking repertoire. With a few extra ingredients and one classic pasta technique, those inexpensive noodles can morph into something much richer and satisfying. Tasting Table developer Michelle McGlinn does exactly that with her Instant Ramen Carbonara Recipe. 

The inspiration comes from carbonara, a traditional Roman pasta dish that's become one of Italy's best-known comfort foods, thanks to a rich, creamy texture and deeply savory flavor. Traditional carbonara is built around pasta, egg yolks, Pecorino Romano, black pepper, and a cured meat called guanciale. McGlinn's recipe uses many of these same ingredients, but with a couple of her own twists. 

Namely, pancetta takes the place of guanciale, sesame seeds add nutty flavor, and ramen noodles replace standard spaghetti or bucatini pasta, often considered the best type of pasta for carbonara sauce. The ramen makes this dish especially quick and easy, as it boils for only a few minutes while the pancetta fries in a pan, before they get tossed together. Meanwhile, a separate marriage is taking place with the eggs and cheese.

When following this Tasting Table recipe for elevating instant ramen to Italian-dinner status, the next step involves the crucial creaminess. While the cooked ramen and fried pancetta mixture lie waiting, you'll be whisking egg yolks, Pecorino Romano, and cracked black pepper into a thick paste, then gradually adding hot ramen water until it blends into a silky sauce.

When tossed all together with the pancetta, ramen noodles, and a handful of sesame seeds sprinkled over the top, you end up with a dramatic upgrade from ordinary add-hot-water ramen meals. Pancetta adds salty, savory richness, Pecorino brings a sharp cheesy bite, and the egg yolks create body and that luscious creamy texture. 

With a bit of imagination, you'll find plenty of ways to push this comfort-food fusion even further from ramen preconceptions. For alternatives, McGlinn suggests using spicy ramen and topping it with kimchi, or adding green onions or steamed bok choy. Bacon can also substitute for pancetta in a pinch, and Parmesan is a perfectly suitable stand-in for the Pecorino. In other words, make it easy by using what's already in your fridge — or take it into entirely new territory. Add mushrooms, asparagus, or broccoli; trade pancetta for smoked salmon, shrimp, or chicken; or experiment with some lovely Italian sausages. You can even turn carbonara into a hearty breakfast pasta dish with American-style breakfast sausage.