Spaghetti alla Carbonara

  •    1 pound thick sliced bacon

  •    1 pound fresh spaghetti pasta

  •    2 T. olive oil and 1 T. butter

  •    4 garlic cloves, lightly crushed

  •    1/4 cup dry white wine

  •    3 eggs

  •    4-5 T. freshly grated Pecorino Romano cheese

  •    ½ cup Parmesan cheese, freshly grated

  •    8-10 twists black pepper

  •    4 T. parsley, minced

  •    1/3 cup warm milk
Serves 4 as a main course

       Put oil, butter and garlic in small pan(A).  Sauté until garlic is deep golden color, then remove the garlic and discard it.  Set aside the oil.

       Chop bacon into ½-inch pieces.  In pan(B), fry at medium-high heat until slightly crisp at edges.  When most of the fat has been released, remove bacon with a slotted spoon and add it to pan(A).  Discard the bacon grease.  Add the wine to pan(A).  When it has completely boiled away, turn off heat.  Set aside.

       Break open eggs into a large bowl in which you are later going to toss and serve the spaghetti and beat them lightly; mix in the two grated cheeses, pepper, parsley and (warm not hot) milk.

       Cook spaghetti until just tender, about 2 minutes after coming to a boil.

       When spaghetti is nearly done, start reheating the bacon-oil mixture.

       Drain spaghetti; shake away all moisture.  Add it to the bowl containing the egg mixture.  Toss it rapidly and thoroughly until well coated.  Then pour the contents of pan(A) over the spaghetti.  Toss and serve immediately. 

Contributed by Diana & Dick Gough 

We’ve been making this for many years and the “boys” always consume it all (with help from us).  I’ve had this dish in Italy a few times and, while good, those times certainly didn’t beat this recipe.  Carbonara means “charcoal maker” and this is from the hills around Rome where it was a dish developed by the Carbonara.  In today’s low-calorie, low-fat world, this is an anachronism but it sure tastes good!