Pasta alla Carbonara

Do you ever open up Pinterest looking for something specific (a recipe in my case) and just get sucked in to your main feed? You just keep on scrolling through, browsing and happily pinning away, then you glance at the time and a half hour has passed and you realize that you have not accomplished anything.

This happens to me frequently. I have a ton of recipes on Pinterest that I have lined up to try out.  Sometimes I look beforehand so I can get an idea of what I'll need to get at the grocery store, but sometimes I wait until the last minute and then I'm too hungry to pick up anything and need to eat right at that moment. This is when I resort to something quick and easy.

One of my go-to recipes is Carbonara.  I picked this up from my grandma, even I noticed some nights she doesn't feel much like cooking and makes something easy.  This is incredibly simple and the perfect recipe to start out with, especially if you're a new cook.  Also, it's a recipe that include bacon and eggs, who doesn't love bacon and eggs?!

 

Pasta alla Carbonara

Serving size: 2

1/2 lb of pasta (I believe linguine is pictured here, probably because it's what I already had, however I usually use penne for this dish)

4-5 strips of bacon, cut into bite sized pieces (try to find the leanest package)

3-4 eggs, scrambled

1-2 tsp garlic, finely chopped

olive oil

salt

pepper

Start by bringing water to a boil in a medium sized pot and cook your pasta according to their package directions or to "al dente".

Heat up a large skillet and drop the in the bite sized bacon to cook.  I generally like my carbonara to be on the bacon heavy side and for them to be extra cripsy.  When the bacon is almost cooked to your liking, turn the heat down, and add the finely chopped garlic. Cook for 2-3 more minutes.  

By this time, your pasta should be done.  Drain your pasta and dump it into the skillet with the bacon and garlic.  There should be enough bacon grease to act as a kind of "sauce" but I usually end up using a little bit of olive oil just to make not stick together and not to taste dry.

At this time, take your eggs, which should be scrambled in a bowl and seasoned with salt and pepper, pour the raw eggs over the pasta in the skillet and mix around until the eggs have cooked.

The key to this recipe is to have a large and deep enough skillet to contain and mix all the ingredients.  Also, in my personal opinion, the pouring of the raw eggs over the pasta and allowing everything to cook together is what makes this dish. I love when I'm about to eat a penne that has bacon and egg inside of it. 

In this last picture, my boyfriend and I had a salad along with our pasta to lighten it up a little bit. I cannot take credit for the salad though because he made it! He used red leaf lettuce, crumbled goat cheese, and Gala apple slices with some of our favorite vinaigrette!

 

Enjoy!