Carbonara

It must be Italian month for me. I got a super urge on the first cold raining night of 2015 to make some pasta classico:  A nice hearty carbonara.

Nothing fancy on this initial foray, just a loving nod to this most wonderful dish.

First came the swine:  thinly sliced bacon (no pancetta on hand, but I'll get that for next time -- I have a source!) sautéed in butter in my hugest cast iron skillet.  Lots of butter, you bet.

I cooked it at a med temp till the bacon strips were just beginning to brown around the edges, hovering like the helicopter parent I am to avoid over cooking or crispness of any kind. 

When it hit that state of magical realism and was perfuming my kitchen with la frutta a maile, I added a ladle full of water from the pasta I had 'a boiling on the stove and turned it down to super low to just stay warm and steamy. 

In a mixing bowl I mixed up a cup or so of fresh grated Parmesan cheese and a couple of eggs fresh from my neighbor Tara's hens.  I am so lucky to have a source for fresh organic eggs -  best thing ever!

At this point the pasta (Farfalle) was ready and I drained it, reserving a cup of the pasta water. Turning up the heat on the bacon in its marvelous bath of butter and bacon grease to get it sizzling again, I added the nearly a pound of pasta to the skillet (note to self: I need a bigger cast iron skillet) and then turned off the burner. 

A bit of stirring to coat the pasta in a sheen of bacony brilliance and then I added the egg/cheese blend to the mix, pouring in about a half a cup of the pasta water to keep things flowing as I stirred and mixed it all together.  Following my bibie (12 recipes) I kept the sauce a little thinner than I'd like as is definitely thickened as the dish cools, adding a bit more pasta water as needed.

OMFG  it was so delish.  I added a bit more grated Parmesan on top and it was ready to go with a nice Belllini as accoutrement.   

For the second portion I added a shot of  my green minty verde sauce that I had left over from making for the super bowl party. That was nice touch too.  This will definitely become one of my go-to super hearty and super easy path to success dishes.  Bellisimo!