Pasta Carbonara

"No man is lonely eating spaghetti it requires so much attention" -Christopher Morley

So true how spaghetti is one of the pasta's that we eat that does need so much attention.  In our family we eat our spaghetti with the help of a tablespoon!! It controls and organizes the strands of spaghetti from the bowl to mouth!! When I was a child pasta was a staple in my mama's kitchen.  Papa ate pasta everyday, prepared all different ways with many different condiments.  We ate pasta with beans, vegetable, light sauces, rich sauces....This is one of my favorite pasta's one I reserve for special occasions, it is not diet friendly but sooo good!!

Pasta Carbonara

Ingredients

1 lb Spaghetti, or pasta of your choice
2 Tbsp Olive oil
4 oz. Pancetta or thick cut bacon cubed
4 cloves of garlic, finely chopped
2 large eggs, beaten
1 cup Grated Parmigiano, or 1/2 cup grated Romano
Black pepper
Flat leaf parsley, chopped for garnish

Directions

In this dish you prepare the sauce while the pasta is cooking, the pasta needs to be hot in order to cook the egg mixture, so timing here is of the essence.

Cook your pasta according to the directions about 8-10 minutes, it should be "al dente" which means firm to the bite. Drain the pasta reserving about 1 cup of the starchy cooking liquid to thin the sauce if necessary.

In the meantime heat the olive oil in a large skillet add the Pancetta or Bacon and saute for 3-4 minutes until it is crisp and the fat is rendered. Saute the garlic in the fat for a minute until soft.

Add the hot drained pasta to the pan and toss for 2 minutes making sure you coat the pasta in the oil and fat. Add the grated cheese to your beaten eggs and beat again incorporating your cheese, remove the pan from the heat and pour the egg/cheese mixture into the pasta mixing vigorously and quickly until the eggs thicken, thin out the sauce if necessary with the reserved pasta water, adding only as needed, not the whole cup. Season with black pepper and taste for salt. Garnish with parsley.

I offer two different types of cheese with this recipe, if you use Parmigiano you can salt the pasta water and add salt at the end if necessary.  If you use Romano you will need less salt, as this cheese has all the salt you need.


Serves 6.

Buon Appetito!!