Last November, after meeting our new niece in the hospital, we went out for dinner at Mani Osteria in Ann Arbor. We toasted to little Molly and ended up having one of the best meals of our lives. All of the dishes were memorable, but the carbonara pasta with a poached egg on top blew my mind.
Traditionally, carbonara involves cooking pasta and bacon and then mixing the hot pasta with raw beaten egg and cheese and allowing that mixture to coat the pasta in a creamy sauce that cooks from the heat of the pasta. Mani Osteria’s twist of adding a runny poached egg on top and the fun of mixing it into the pasta was so lovely to me. I vowed to try this at home.
I finally got my hands on some ramps and wanted to make something really good with them. I saw a ramp carbonara recipe over at Food 52 and then I remembered that poached egg carbonara and well, it was decided.
This pasta dish is really delicious. So delicious that we had it for lunch over the weekend and I’m picking up more ramps to make it again. It comes together pretty quickly, too, so it’s weeknight-meal friendly. Carbonara is basically breakfast pasta, right? Bacon, eggs and pasta. And this one has that mild garlic flavor from the ramps, which is even better.
ahhh I adore mani! but i’m not sure that I’ve ever had their carbonara. definitely will be trying it next time though!
also where do you find your ramps? I don’t think I’ve ever seen them in big box grocery stores, or even trader joe’s. Farmers markets?
You should try it! But everything there is good. I’ve been able to find ramps at Whole Foods. They usually get a pretty good shipment around this time. If you have local farmers markets close-by, I’d definitely check that out, too. Our farmers market just opened for the season last Saturday, but I didn’t get a chance to go.
This looks phenomenal! Can’t wait to try it–thanks!
Thanks, Kate!
Yeay for Mani!!! I haven’t had their carbonara but if it’s anything like the rest of their menu, I know it has to be amazing 🙂 Your version looks so good. I’ve actually never cooked with ramps before but you have me totes intrigued!
What’s funny is I hardly ever order pasta at restaurants, but I’m so glad I ordered it at Mani. Ramps are really lovely! They’re only around for a few weeks in the spring, so it’s a nice treat. I tend to make pasta dishes with them because then I can use the bulb and leaves together. Some ramp recipes have you discard the leaves and I just can’t do it!
I can never find ramps — every spring I feel like I’m on a mission 🙂 Runny eggs are one of the things I miss most these days. A few more months until I can eat them! xo
I remember Kimberley from The Year in Food also having trouble finding ramps. They must prefer a cooler climate, but you definitely win in overall excellent produce 🙂 Maybe one day, though!
This looks spectacular! I love traditional carbonara, but I have a feeling this is even better. I mean, poached egg! Ramps! Bacon! All the win.
Thanks, Danguole! I was so happy with how this turned out and now my bacon grease jar is full, so now I get to decide what delicious things I’ll make with that.
Yum! This is making my mouth water 🙂
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