Spaghetti Carbonara

Look Ma!  No cream!

I love me some Carbonara.  The first time I had it there were peas in it and so that is how I make it.  You can treat the peas as optional just as I treat the garlic as optional.  I will put them both in for this session.  What I love most about this recipe is that it fits my way of cooking.  This means that you only need two pots, one to boil the pasta and one to cook the bacon and finish the dish.  Ok, you also need a bowl in which to whip the eggs and plates to eat off. (Although on bachelor weekends such as this one eating out of the skillet is not out of the realm of possibility)

Carbonara was apparently named for coal miners and the cracked pepper is the representation of the coal in this recipe.  The pepper is supposed to be the star here.  Also, this is not Alfredo sauce.  If you wanted that you'll have to wait for a bit.

Click here if you want to watch a cool Italian dude make this right in front of you.

This recipe serves two, instead of the 4 person standard to which I usually adhere. Although I went for the 12 oz of pasta so I could have leftovers.

You'll need;

• 8 to 12 oz spaghetti
• 4 slices of chopped bacon (guanciale or pancetta if you can get them)
• 3 eggs (plus one yolk if you want it super rich)
• 1.5 cup fresh grated parmigiano reggiano (or half and half parmesean and pecorino romano)
• 1/2 cup defrosted frozen peas (optional)
• lots of fresh ground pepper

Get the pasta water boiling and heat the skillet to med high.  Add the pasta to the water as you add the chopped bacon to the skillet.

Cook the pasta to al dente while you do the rest of the cookery. Cook the bacon until it is just crispy.

Crack the eggs into a bowl and whisk with 3/4 cup cheese and a healthy amount of pepper.

I should have added the extra yolk since I was pushing the pasta amount.

Don't worry, we add more pepper later.

Turn the heat down to low and add the garlic and peas to the skillet.  Cook for 1 minute and turn off the heat.

The pasta should be done now.  Steal a cup of the pasta water in case you need it to thin the sauce.  Drain the spagetti and add it to the skillet.

Now add in the egg/cheese mixture while stirring to prevent the egg from scrambling.

If the sauce is getting too paste-y you should thin it with some hot, starchy pasta water.  The sauce will start to look creamy, but there is no cream in the sauce.

Top with more grinds of black pepper and the rest of the cheese. Add Italian parsley if you have a date, although no one eats parsley.

The sauce is coating the pasta perfectly and we add more pepper and cheese.

Bachelor plate...

Date plate!

If you are having problems getting the sauce to thicken and coat the pasta and/or are scrambling the eggs, there is a technique hack over at seriouseats.com that I will link to here. They suggest a natural double boiler over what used to be the pasta water.  Genius!