Carbonara

First of all, excuse the terrible picture. It was yet again one of those situations where I make a dish and eat the majority of it before I remember that I have a blog and should probably take a photo...

Anyways, Cabonara is a great change from the standard tomato sauce or alfredo, and it has bacon in it - you cannot go wrong with that. Here is another recipe that I've slightly adapted based on techniques I learned for a William-Sonoma COOKBOOK that I gave an old boyfriend years ago. If anyone knows where I can get it, I will be eternally grateful, because it is literally the best pasta cookbook I have ever read.

Carbonara 

4 eggs

3/4 cup grated Parmesan (the real stuff – I’m warning you!)

2 tsp dried parsley

1 tsp coarsely cracked pepper

1/2 tsp salt

1/2 pkg of dried spagettini or linguine (any thin long noodle will do)

1 Tbsp olive oil

1 Tbsp unsalted butter

1/4 pound pancetta, coarsely chopped or 8 strips of thick bacon

2 garlic cloves, minced

1.      In a large bowl, combine the eggs, Parmesan cheese, parsley, pepper and salt. Whisk to blend and set aside.

2.      Bring a large pot of unsalted water to a boil over high heat. Add the pasta, stir well and cook until al dente, according to the package instructions.

3.      While the pasta is cooking, combine the olive oil, butter, pancetta and garlic in a frying pan over medium heat and cook, stirring occasionally, until the pancetta starts to brown, but do not let it become crisp. Keep warm over very low heat.

4.      Using tongs, transfer the pasta to the frying pan with the pancetta, and turn off the heat to the water but don’t get rid of it. Remove the frying pan from the heat and slowly pour in egg mixture while stirring quickly and constantly. What you want to do is warm the egg mixture so that it becomes thick and paste like without actually cooking the egg.

5.      Add some of the pasta cooking water (not boiling!) to thin the sauce, to your liking. Then serve while hot!

 Yummy!