Pasta Carbonara

CATION: DO NOT READ UNLESS YOU ARE READY TO GAIN 2 POUNDS!!

The surgeon general should require that label be put on all Pasta Carbonara recipes.  I mean just look at the cast of characters for this episode.

Pasta, butter and bacon, how can you go wrong? 

I'll admit I have never had Pasta Carbonara but I have heard a lot about it and how good it its.  I used to work with a guy that said his wife made the best Pasta Carbonara in the world (but he said that about everything him or his wife cooked) and he got me interested.  It wasn't long after that I was cruising through Pioneer Woman's cooking  blog and came across her recipe for Pasta Carbonara.  It certainly sounded good, looked good and more importantly the comments people left said it was some of the best Pasta Carbonara they ever had.  I was sold, I had my Pasta Carbonara recipe. 

I did tweaked the recipe a bit by using ingredients I had on hand so I didn't have to go the store and the recipe at the bottom is how I made the Pasta Carbonara.  I used fresh thyme instead off parsley and of course I used some of that good Traders Joe's Pasta, lemon pepper this time.

This is really a pretty simple recipe to make and another bonus is it doesn't take very long.  I think the longest wait was for the bacon to cook.  While the bacon is cooking it gives me time to slice some garlic, lots of garlic, so much garlic you won't have any trouble with vampires for the night.

It is hard to beat the smell in the kitchen while cooking, bacon and garlic. Do they make a candle scent for that?  If not maybe they should.

My biggest worry making Carbonara is the raw eggs you mix the pasta with.  I guess the idea is to put the pasta in the egg mixture while it is still hot and it will cook the eggs and give a nice, thick, creamy mixture.  So how bad could it be anyway?  I once watched Rocky down some raw eggs while he was training for big fight so I figured a couple of raw or partially cooked eggs couldn't hurt me.  But as I found out the hot pasta will cook the eggs and all turns out fine in the end.

It sure did look good when I got done but the real test was yet to come, the taste testing.  It's hard to rate this recipe because I have never ate Pasta Carbonara before but I can tell you I liked it, liked it a lot.  I will definitely make this again, just not to often because I think I gained another 2 pounds writing this post.

Pasta Carbonara

(Printable Recipe)

Ingredients:

1/2 pound Smoky Bacon

8 oz. Linguine Pasta

1 whole medium Onion, diced

4 cloves Garlic, thinly sliced

1/2 cup White Wine (or Substitute Another 1/2 Cup Of Stock)

1/2 cup Chicken Stock
2 whole Eggs
3/4 Parmesan Cheese
1/4 stick unsalted Butter
1 Teaspoon fresh Thyme
½ to 1 Tablespoon Black Pepper

Preparation Instructions

Slice up bacon into pieces about one inch wide. Cook until browned and crisp.

Bring to as boil salted water and add linguine and cook until al dente, tender-firm.

After the bacon is cooked, remove it from the pan with a slotted spoon. Add the diced onions into the bacon renderings. Stir and cook over medium heat for 2 minutes.

Add the garlic and cook for 2 more minutes, remove from the pan and discard the bacon renderings.

Turn the heat up to high and as soon as the pan begins to smoke, pour in the white wine. Whisk until pan is thoroughly deglazed and add 1 cup of chicken stock. Return bacon, onion and garlic back to the pan. Turn heat down to medium and let simmer.

Crack eggs into a large bowl and add the Parmesan cheese and thyme. Leave a little Parmesan Mix well.

Drain the pasta being sure the pasta is very hot. Add the pasta to the egg mixture and then add the bacon/onion mixture, add butter and mix it all together well. Pepper to taste. Garnish with parmesan.