Carbonara

Ingredients

-1 lb dry spaghetti (I used angel hair last night)

-2 tablespoons EVOO

-4-6 oz pancetta or slab bacon, cubed or sliced into small strips. If you live in Colorado, go with Tender Belly

-4-6 garlic cloves, finely chopped

-2 large eggs

-1 cup freshly grated Parmigiano-Reggiano, plus more for serving

-Freshly ground black pepper

-1 handful fresh flat-leaf parsley, chopped. Dried is fine as well.

Cooking Instructions

Prepare the sauce while the pasta is cooking to ensure that the spaghetti will be hot and ready when the sauce is finished; it is very important that the pasta is hot when adding the egg mixture, so that the heat of the pasta cooks the raw eggs in the sauce.

First, bring a large pot of salted water to a boil, add the pasta and cook for 8 to 10 minutes or until tender yet firm. Drain the pasta well, reserve the cooking water to use a portion in the sauce if you wish.

Meanwhile, heat the olive oil in a deep skillet over medium flame. Add the pancetta or bacon and saute for about 3 minutes, until the bacon is cooked, but not crispy and the fat is rendered. Toss the garlic into the fat and saute for 1-2 minute to soften. Be careful not to burn the garlic.

Add the hot, drained spaghetti to the pan and toss for 2 minutes to coat the strands in the bacon fat. Beat the eggs and Parmesan together in a mixing bowl, stirring well to prevent lumps. Remove the pan from the heat and pour the egg/cheese mixture into the pasta, mixing quickly until the eggs thicken, but do not scramble (this is done off the heat to ensure this does not happen.) Thin out the sauce with a bit of the reserved pasta water, until it reaches desired consistency. Season the carbonara with several turns of freshly ground black pepper and taste for salt. Mound the spaghetti carbonara into warm serving bowls and garnish with chopped parsley. I also add a bit of crushed red pepper flakes. So. Damn. Good.