More Pantry Suppers: Spaghetti alla Carbonara

When I wrote about default dinners, those meals that you turn to when you don't have the time or the wherewithal to cook, I never imagined all of the wonderful comments that would result. Readers not only share their favorite pantry suppers, they sometimes even included recipes as well.

Today I relied on one of those suggestions, Spaghetti alla Carbonara, that was shared by Linda_M. This dish makes a hearty, cold-weather dinner. I follow Mark Bittman's recipe because his is so easy and calls for only a handful of ingredients:

Spaghetti alla Carbonara

Ingredients:
1 tablespoon olive oil
4 ounces minced bacon, preferably slab bacon, or pancetta
2 eggs
1 cup freshly grated Parmesan cheese, plus more
1 pound spaghetti, linguine, or other long pasta
Salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste

Directions:
1. Combine the olive oil and bacon in a medium skillet over medium heat. Cook, stirring occasionally,until the bacon is crisp.

2. Meanwhile, bring a large pot of water to a boil. Warm a large bowl in the oven, or by filling it with very hot water.

3. Beat the eggs and Parmesan together in the bowl. Salt the boiling water and cook the pasta until it is tender but firm. When it is done, drain it and toss it immediately with the egg-cheese mixture; add the bacon and any fat remaining in the skillet. Add lots of pepper; taste and add salt and more pepper if necessary. Serve immediately, passing more grated Parmesan at the table.

Tracy's notes: I use whatever bacon's on sale at the grocery store for this recipe, but I double the amount suggested here and use 8 ounces or even a little more. I also use three eggs rather than two.

Makes about 4 servings.

How to Cook Everything, Mark Bittman, Wiley, 2006

--Tracy Schneider

Comments

[joeindc44 on October 20, 2009 at 11:05 AM]

Wow, this is a pretty good dish. Also, considering the ingredients, it's not unhealthy. Two eggs, some bacon, some pasta water, and Parmesan cheese. Probably half the calories than pesto (albeit without the healthy benefits from nuts). In fact, as I grated the cheese, I noted that you get a cup of the stuff pretty quickly from a small amount of the block of cheese.

I would add that I was concerned about curdling the eggs as I added it to the warm bowl (I placed mine atop the toaster oven as it cooked some bread). To combat this, I used the pasta water to temper the eggs before adding it to the hot bowl.

I also added a few cloves of garlic, some red pepper flakes, and other herbs to the garlic bacon sautee. I couldn't see the point of making this dish without garlic. Those additions gives the dish some depth and more heat (along with the black pepper) than I would have thought.

[used bucket trucks for sale on February 04, 2010 at 05:30 AM]

thank you for such a Great receptive, i will a temp to make it, over the weekend

[Digger Derrick on April 27, 2011 at 06:09 AM]

Sounds so good! http://www.nationsequipment.com