June 14, 2008

Spaghetti Carbonara!



My Italian childhood friend, Amelia, sent me this recipe almost a year ago, and I have been too intimidated by the inclusion of the eggs to give it a whirl. Finally, I came to my senses and thought I'd try. I'm glad I did!

Make bacon. Chop into small pieces.



Boil water in pasta pot and throw in some coarse salt- I used kosher salt. Cook 1/2 box of spaghetti according to directions on box.



Mix together three eggs with a pinch of fine grained salt. Add to that 1 cup of grated pecorino (parmesan will do) with a pinch of black pepper in it.

Drain the pasta and put in cooled pan. I used the same pan that I had cooked the bacon in- just wipe out bacon grease first. Add bacon and the egg/cheese mixture and mix. Turn on heat until the eggs JUST begin to cook. You will see small clumps begin to form, they shouldn't be more than about 3mm. It's ready to serve!



Add more cheese at the table, if desired. This pasta is rich, creamy and really warms the cockles of your heart. It's divine, if I do say so myself. It was the best Spaghetti Carbonara I have ever tasted-- okay, it was the only Spaghetti Carbonara I have ever tasted, but it was very good. I have heard much advice about this dish over the years, warnings about how impossible it is to get the eggs to cook just so. I shouldn't have listened. Eggs and I get along just fine...and the eggs.

2 comments:

Pannifer's said...

Oooooh! You've finally found out what you've been missing!

Spaghetti Carbonara ia a huge favourite in our house.

We use really fresh eggs from a trusted source, so we don't have to cook them at all - just toss and go.

For a vegetarian version, you can substitute sundried tomatoes for the bacon.

Damn! I always get so hungry reading your blog!

Anonymous said...

this looks so incredible. I don't cook anymore, but I'm going to try thr vegetarian vwesion!
(: