The Best Dishes at New York City's Carbone....Recreated at Home
Making the Best of Carbone at Home
Fancy Quarantine Recipes: Italian Style
If you’re like me, cooking more at home during quarantine means that I’m trying to find ways to recreate restaurant favorites that are more budget-friendly, or honoring our favorite places that might not be open right now. Enter the comfort foods! Clearly one of the first in that line for me will always be pasta and the wider range of Italian favorites.
When I’m in the mood for splurging on Italian in New York City, it has to be Carbone. Something of an institution, Carbone isn’t your run-of-the-mill Italian joint. Instead, it’s a transporting experience that combines your nana’s kitchen with the NYC of the of the 1950’s. Dining there feels all at once a little bit gangster, a little bit chic, and like a lot of history.
While there are countless standouts on the menu, a few favorites always rise to the top of people’s list when asking, what should I get there? I always direct people to these five favorites, with the idea for sharing this post coming from an at-home dupe for their classic Vodka Penne that I can’t stop making on Friday nights in quarantine. So in honor of our favorite restaurants now making appearances in our home kitchens, here are the things you must order when Carbone opens its doors again, and the dupes I’ve found in the mean time to get me through.
1. Caesar Alla ZZ’s
While there’s nothing particularly revolutionary about a caesar salad, what really makes this one over the top is the croutons. As big as your head, they’re properly soaked in butter, toasted to a crisp on the outside, but so large that the insides stay nice and chewy, with that rich drain of butter and olive oil that smooshes out when you bite into them. This garlic crouton recipe is the closest I’ve found to giving that same flavor payoff.
2. Mario’s Meatballs
The interesting thing about the Carbone meatballs is that they almost feel underdone in the center. A little smooshy, and again, the size of a softball (noticing a trend here?), they’re best shared as a table appetizer. Because who does need a meat sidecar with their salad? You’ll get the right texture and size with the Jumbo Cheesy Italian Meatball recipe from Food Network.
3. “Grandma Bread”
It’s possible you also grew up with garlic bread that was a little zhuzhed up from topping a french bread loaf and popping it in the oven. If so, this recipe for Carbone’s garlic bread is not far off. You’ll get closer to the texture of the OG but slightly undercooking it in the oven, or using a focaccia as a base to keep it a little softer.
4. Carrot Cake
The carrot cake is by far the best dessert in the neighborhood, maybe the City. Dorrie Greenspan’s classic from the New York Times gets us close, and also pays homage by coming from another NY institution. To get more of a Carbone flavor, add some candied ginger to the frosting and consider chilling it a bit longer than the recipe recommends to firm the frosting further.
5. Vodka Rigatoni
Saving the best for last, Bon Appetite’s Rigatoni with Easy Vodka Sauce is the best dupe of this bunch. Go a little heavy on the red pepper flake, and toast the tomato paste for longer than you think you need to to be sure to get a really rich, deeper flavor make the sauce taste like it’s simmered for hours, and not the 15 minutes it takes to cook the pasta. You will be absolutely transported with this super quick and budget-friendly Carbone dupe at home.
