Traditional carbonara is served with the egg, either lightly poached or completely raw, perched in the middle of the plate of spaghetti. The idea is to break the yolk and let its gooey, ooey goodness run down over the pasta (a la the picture to the left). I love runny yolk eggs - poached in my ramen, over spinach salads, a fried egg over rice with nuoc mam and a delicious grilled pork chop, so the traditional concept is one that I would wholeheartedly embrace. This recipe mixes the egg yolks in with the cream, which is in itself, embraced by the Romans.
Being the bacon, egg, pasta lovers that we are (and, for me, peas), what is not to love about Carbonara? This is one of my go to dishes for a quick and easy, after work meal. The flavors are ridiculous and it is as comforting as one of Mom Susie's quilts.
5 teaspoons olive oil
4 shallots, diced
1 large onion, cut into thin strips
1-2 cups of diced pancetta or bacon (we are big bacon eaters - we used a LOT of peppered bacon)
1 clove garlic, chopped (2 for us)
1 (16 ounce) package fettuccini or spaghetti pasta
3 egg yolks
1/2 cup heavy cream
3/4 cup shredded Parmesan cheese
1-2 cups of frozen peas (optional)
salt and pepper to taste
- Heat olive oil in a large heavy saucepan over medium heat. Saute shallots until softened. Stir in onion and bacon, and cook until bacon is evenly browned. Stir in garlic when bacon is about half done. Remove from heat.
- Bring a large pot of lightly salted water to a boil. Add pasta and cook for 8 to 10 minutes or until al dente. Drain pasta, then return it to the pot.
- In a medium bowl, whisk together egg yolks, cream, and shredded Parmesan. Pour the bacon mixture over the pasta, then stir in the cream mixture. Season with salt and pepper.
