Spaghetti Carbonara

I'm getting back to my Italian roots today with some spaghetti carbonara.  This dish is great when you have a limited pantry and you need to make a quick dinner.  I used bacon in place of pancetta in order to skip a trip to the grocery store and it turned out delicious!  

The most important step is to make sure to continuously whisk the egg mixture when adding the hot reserved pasta water or else you will end up with scrambled eggs and dry spaghetti.  

This is a dish with high cholesterol and fat levels so make sure to serve with a nice side salad!

Spaghetti Carbonara 

Spaghetti Carbonara

Ingredients:

1 tbsp. extra-virgin olive oil

3 cloves garlic, peeled and crushed

5 oz. bacon (or pancetta) cut into 1/2 inch strips

1⁄3 cup white wine

1/2 lb. dried spaghetti

1/3 cup shaved parmesan 

2 Tbsp. shredded mozzarella

1 Tbsp. finely chopped parsley

1 egg

Salt and pepper, to taste

Preparation:

Heat oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat. Add garlic, and cook until golden, about 1 minute. Remove and discard garlic. Add bacon, and cook until edges are crisp and the fat is rendered, about 8 minutes. (At this point I took out about 2 spoonfuls of bacon grease because the bacon I used was super oily, you can choose what you want to do).  Add wine, and cook until thickened, about 2 minutes. Remove from heat.

Bring a pot of salted water to a boil. Add spaghetti, and cook until al dente, according to box directions. Drain, reserving 1⁄4 cup pasta water. In a large bowl, whisk together parmesan, parsley, and eggs; while whisking constantly, slowly drizzle in reserved pasta water until smooth. Add spaghetti along with reserved pancetta mixture. Season with salt and a generous amount of pepper. Toss to combine, and serve immediately.

Enjoy!