An Egg A Day: 10. Angel Hair Carbonara

I know, I know... my posts have been semi-MIA lately, but seriously - I warned you in my introduction that periods of postlessness were likely. Luckily for all of us, my business travel should be done for the year and I have successfully checked some major projects off my "to do" list. So, I'm happy to not only bust out a post today, but I think it's an especially delicious dish.

I'm sure that many of you have heard of "Spaghetti Carbonara" or seen it on menus. You many have even eaten it. I was very surprised recently to discover that many people didn't realize that eggs are a key ingredient for this pasta, giving that sauce it's unique creaminess without any actual cream and not too much cheese. Plus, like many pasta dishes, it's super easy.

What you need for 4 servings... And by "four servings" I don't mean little puny side-dish servings, I mean big, hearty, full-bowl servings that work as your entire dinner:

Pasta
BACON - As little or as much as you want
2 eggs
Fresh Parmesan cheese
Half of a white onion, chopped
2 very large cloves of garlic, minced or chopped
4 tablespoons of butter
1 cup of peas (optional, obvi)
12 ounces of sliced mushrooms

First, fry up the bacon in a very large pan.
You'll also want to have a large pot of
water on another burner, heating up and
getting ready for the pasta.

After removing the bacon and setting aside,
add the mushrooms to the pan and cook
in the bacon grease until they are just
starting to turn golden brown.

Add half a chopped white onion and stir.

Once the onions begin to get translucent,
add the chopped garlic and mix in with
the mushrooms and white onion.

Once you add the garlic to the pan, add your pasta to the now-boiling water. Angel hair doesn't take too long to cook, which is definitely one of the benefits. I don't think you will EVER see me make anything with actual Spaghetti. The thickness of spaghetti really holds back my twirl-skills and if I'm making any long-noodle dishes I will almost always go for Linguine or Angel Hair (my most favorite). To make four semi-large servings, I use about 4/5 of one whole box. I should really start being more professional with my measurements and recipes, but it's just not my natural style... I usually like to assume that people are smart enough to figure out a few details on their own. Also, I would like to mention that I have found whole wheat angel hair to be easier to cook and have a much better texture than spaghetti or fettuccine.

While the pasta cooks, make sure the
stove is on medium heat & add the peas
to the mushrooms, onion and garlic. I
have a very strong preference for fresh peas,
but frozen is second-best. Canned? NO.

Once the pasta is ready - and don't over-
cook it because it will continue to cook a
bit in the next few minutes - add it to the
frying pan, along with the butter, and begin
tossing all the ingredients together until
they are well-mixed and the pasta is
evenly coated in bacon grease and butter.

Reduce the heat again to low, and it's time to add the eggs! Most recipes ask you to beat the eggs in advance of adding them to the pasta, but I have done it both ways and haven't noticed a difference, and I'd rather have one dirty dish rather than two. The most important thing for this step is that you quickly puncture the yolks and begin mixing up all the pasta. You'll want to mix very well, and continuously for several minutes. The goal is to get the egg mixed with the butter and grease, coating all the pasta, all without letting the eggs "scramble." You won't really see the eggs, so there aren't any bits of hard egg white or anything like that. Really what it does is add a richness to the "sauce" that is slick and creamy but only appears like a shiny coating on all the noodles. I mixed mine very thoroughly for about 3-5 minutes.

Once everything is well-mixed, I slowly add small handfuls of Parmesan cheese. While you can, of course, use the grated stuff that comes in a can, I would highly recommend you get something a little richer and fresher. I have even made this dish using Italian cheese mixes that include Asiago as well as Parmesan. Some recipes call for a lot of cheese, which will give you a thicker, creamier sauce. I prefer to only add enough to give the pasta some extra flavor, but let the other ingredients speak for themselves.

Now comes the time where I must apologize... It had been a long day and I was anxious to sit down, eat, and relax. In my rush, my brain made up memories of taking some additional pictures. Fortunately, the rest is super easy to describe with words:

Put some pasta in a bowl
Top with a little additional cheese, and some black pepper
Crumble bacon on top

Most recipes have you mix the bacon in with everything else. Which is totally fine. However, one of the things I love most about bacon is how salty and crispy it is. Soggy bacon is like hearing a classical masterpiece from a orchestra of kazoos. I mean, let's be real... I still eat it, it's just not as good. The point is that when you crumble the bacon on top of the pasta, it stays crisp throughout your meal.

While this dish is usually some combination of bacon, mushrooms, onion, garlic, and sometimes peas, there's really no reason you couldn't be flexible and make some tasty variations. Maybe sausage instead of bacon? Or add some diced tomato? Broccoli? What makes Carbonara so special is the unique sauce that is neither marinara/tomato-based, nor is it a thick Alfredo style. It's most similar to an olive oil sauce but manages to be creamier and more flavorful. It is by far, one of my favorite pasta dishes EVER.

Love & Eggs,

Laura