As promised — a cheap protein

Published on Thursday, December 11, 2008 in Recipes. 13 Comments

Lentil and bean recipes to come, but I just haven’t been craving them lately.

What I craved today was Spaghetti Carbonara. Which is very convenient because I am under orders to gain weight. (So far this preganncy is right on target with all the others. In no time I’ll be up 60 pounds and wondering where that third ass came from.)

Spaghetti Carbonara is an Italian-American dish in the purest sense. It originated in the mid-20th Century and seems likely to have gained the height of its popularity from the rations of eggs and bacon that Americans distributed in Italy in World War II.

It’s easy, rich, very fast, very cheap and popular with the kids. We serve it with a simple romaine salad. Use very fresh eggs and real parmesean.

The big fear with carbonara is that the pasta won’t really cook the eggs. In my experience, it does. Almost instantaneously. In fact, when you add the hot pasta you want to keep it moving so you don’t get scrambled eggs. The sauce should be hot, thoroughly cooked, and smooth.

Spaghetti Carbonara

1 pound dry spaghetti, cooked in large pot of boiling salted water
2 fresh eggs
1/2 pound bacon
2 cloves garlic
1/2 cup finely grated parmesean cheese
chopped fine parsley, if on hand
salt and pepper to taste

1) Cook the spaghetti. While it cooks, cut the bacon into small chunks and put in a fry pan over medum heat. When the bacon is starting to brown and be crisp and the fat is mostly rendered, add two coves garlic, chopped into chunks. (Wait until bacon is almost done. If you add too soon, garlic will burn.) Toss until bacon is crisp and garlic is soft, then remove from heat.

2) Beat eggs in a large heatproof bowl unitl they are incorporated and smooth. Add pepper and a little salt. (Easy on the salt as you will be using salty bacon, too.)

3) As soon as pasta is cooked, drain and add to the bowl with the eggs. Toss quickly to coat. The hot pasta will cook the eggs, but you need to keep the whole thing moving to avoid scrambled eggs.

4) Add bacon and garlic and all pan drippings. (If you feel there is too much fat, drain some, but you need a little of it to flavor the eggs.)

5) Add parmesean. After it’s all tossed, add parsley.

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