I was looking for an easy one dish meal tonight because I knew I would be playing with my new camera all day. Michael loves cooked pasta. He can eat it without sauce (yuck). This seeme like something he would like and guess what? He didn’t like it, he loved it! Spaghetti Carbonara is super rich but oh-so-good. This would be a perfect dish for a dinner party with a simple salad and French baguettes. I made this with an adaptation of the recipe as it appears on Simply Recipes.
Ingredients
- 1/2 pound spaghetti
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- 8 pancetta rounds (diced)
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- 1/2 sweet onion (chopped)
- 1 clove garlic (pressed)
- 1/4 cup dry white wine (optional)
- 2 eggs
- 1/2 cup grated Parmesan cheese
- 1 pinch salt and black pepper to taste
- 2 tablespoons chopped fresh chives
- 2 tablespoons shaved Parmesan cheese
Instructions
- In a large pot of boiling salted water, cook spaghetti pasta until al dente. Drain well. Toss with 1 tablespoon of olive oil, and set aside.
- Meanwhile in a large skillet, cook chopped pancetta until slightly crisp; remove and drain onto paper towels. Reserve 2 tablespoons of pancetta fat; add remaining 1 tablespoon olive oil, and heat in reused large skillet. Add chopped onion, and cook over medium heat until onion is translucent. Add garlic, and cook 1 minute more. Add wine if desired; cook one more minute. I added the wine and it really help the pasta from being dry.
- Return cooked bacon to pan; add cooked and drained spaghetti. Toss to coat and heat through, adding more olive oil if it seems dry or is sticking together. Add beaten eggs and cook, tossing constantly with tongs or large fork until eggs are barely set. Quickly add 1/2 cup Parmesan cheese, and toss again. Add salt and pepper to taste (remember that bacon and Parmesan are very salty). One review of this recipe suggested mixing the egg and cheese together and adding the mixture after the pasta is allowed to cool slightly. The idea is to set the eggs but not scramble them. I will try this next time as I could see bits of cooked egg in the pasta instead of it being part of the sauce. It was still beyond delicious!
- Serve immediately with chopped chives sprinkled on top, and shaved Parmesan cheese at table.
You might also like Spaghetti Aglio E Olio.
Kathy says
I want to try this recipe! I confess, I had to google pancetta. I’ve never heard of it before. It sounds delicious!