Spaghetti Carbonara

July 25, 2014

20140725-042111.jpg I almost always know or at least have an idea of what I am going to write about/post in the morning before my head hits the pillow the night before. But not always. Last night was such a night that I was just wrapping my head around ideas and TPS said “I made that Spaghetti Carbonara and wrote about it for you, why not use that?” Which he did in January, which was so delicious and so lovely that he wrote out the recipe to be used on the blog and shared with you all. Which I stored away and promptly forgot about. Easily as tasty in July. Today’s post, courtesy of Mister Sive.

Spaghetti Carbonara is a core comfort food in the Watson Sive household. I think this may have been one of the dishes that “sealed the deal” with my husband. Simple, tasty, and hearty, it has a terrific combination of smoky bacon (need we say more?), the sweetness of peas, and the warmth of pasta and eggs.

1 pound bacon
1 pound spaghetti
4 eggs
1 regular sized package frozen peas
1/2 cup loosely grated Parmesan
lots of fresh pepper
salt to taste

Dice the bacon small and cook in a skillet over medium heat. Drain off the fat as you go along, and try to time the cooking so the bacon is still warm for assembly.

Break the eggs into a large pasta or mixing bowl and loosely mix with a fork.

Empty the frozen peas into a colander.

Cook the pasta to just a tad over al dente. Ideally, in a two stage pasta pot with an integral strainer, so you can drain the pasta and save the hot pasta water. Dip the frozen peas into the pasta water to flash cook (this is all they’ll need; if cooked longer, they become too soft.)

Immediately toss the hot pasta in the eggs, cooking them, and quickly add the other ingredients. Let sit for a minute for the eggs to complete cook and the flavors to merge.

Serve in pasta bowls, top with a touch more pepper, grab a glass of hearty red, and all will be well in the world.