My all-time favorite dish to cook and eat is Carbonara. If I was a professional chef, it would be my "signature" dish. I learned to make Carbonara from my Mom, she made it often when I was growing up. Carbonara is basically any pasta cooked with eggs, cheese and bacon. The traditional Italian Carbonara is made with pancetta, which is still hard to find in my neck of the woods. It wasn't available at all when I was growing up, so my Mom always made her Carbonara with regular bacon. I have made it so many ways over the years I have lost count, with just about every strand pasta out there. I've made healthy versions with egg substitute and turkey bacon which turned out pretty good. I've added cream which turns it into more of an Alfredo type dish. I still think the original Spaghetti Carbonara, a take on my Mom's recipe, is the best of the bunch. The dish pictured and the recipe below is Linguine Carbonara, but you can substitute any pasta for the Linguine. I made this version with Buitoni Fresh Pasta, a new obsession of mine. I actually think the dried pasta is better for Carbonara than the fresh, the egg and cheese mixture sticks to the dried pasta better. To me this is Italian comfort food at it's best, and always brings back warm memories of my Mom.
Ingredients:
9 Strips of Thick Cut Bacon
4 Cloves Garlic, minced
1/2 Large Onion, chopped
2 - 9 ounce packages of Buitoni Fresh Fettucine (or your favorite strand pasta)
5 Eggs
1-1/2 cups shredded Parmesan Cheese, plus additional for garnish
1 Teaspoon pepper
Cut bacon into small strips width wise (the French call these "lardons") and cook on medium heat halfway to crisp. Turn heat to low, add onion and garlic and saute' until bacon is crisp and onion and garlic are soft. Cook pasta according to package directions. While pasta is cooking, beat eggs in a medium size bowl, then add cheese and pepper. Drain the pasta, reserving a cup of the pasta water. Immediately put pasta back in pot, add bacon and egg mixture, stirring rapidly so eggs coat the pasta and don't cook into big clumps. Add 1/2 to 1 cup of the reserved pasta water. You don't want to make a sauce, just lighten the texture of the egg mixture a little.
Serve with additional parmesan cheese on top, a nice chilled glass of wine and a good crusty bread.
