First Try - Spaghetti Carbonara

So, I have decided to give a special title to something that I have been doing all along.  I like to experiment with food, and some of that is trying new recipes....well, almost.  When I try something new, I will title it as First Try.

I have seen Spaghetti Carbonara on several cooking shows recently and thought I would like to try making it.  I read several recipes before tonight's experiment.  Most of them were for more food than I wanted to eat.  Tonight, it was only me and my son, and we don't need a pound of spaghetti.  The other problem is that you get totally different ratios of ingredients. 

The basic ingredients of Spaghetti Carbonara are:

• Pasta
• Bacon or Pancetta
• Olive Oil
• Garlic
• Eggs
• Parmesan and other Cheeses

All but one of the recipes called for 1 pound of Spaghetti, and the lone man out called for 12 oz.  I decided on half a pound of pasta.  The problem is that the amounts of the other ingredients changed wildly.  One called for a pound of pasta and 8 eggs, while another called for only 2.  So, I decided to go with an amalgam of several recipes and it looked a little like this.

• 1/2 lb. Spaghetti
• 6 thick slices of bacon
• 2 teaspoons olive oil
• 2 cloves garlic
• 2 Eggs
• 1/2 cup Parmesan Cheese

Now, I had to make a few substitutions because I was lazy and making this during a bit of a thunderstorm, so I was not going out to get fresh garlic, or fresh parmesan.

I fried the bacon in the olive oil, which looks rather a mess in the middle, as the bacon begins to render it's fat, but hasn't started crisping.  I also thought I might end up in a time crunch, as the timing seems to be pretty important.  Just after the bacon started to crisp up, I tossed in my garlic, which started browning pretty quickly.  I finally had to turn the bacon off while waiting for the pasta to cook.  I mixed the two eggs with the parmesan cheese and set that aside. 

Drain the pasta, toss it into the pan with the bacon and garlic and mix until all the pasta is coated.  Then stir in the egg and cheese and mix until it no longer looks like raw egg.  The pasta should be hot enough to cook the eggs, so you cannot let it sit after draining. 

A minute before pulling my pasta off the fire, I turned the bacon and garlic back on so that it would be hot. 

It came out really nice, though I think it could do with a bit more garlic, but I am thinking that fresh garlic will make the difference.

This is not really all that hard, and it is delicious.