OK, so I lied. In the course of going through all of my cooking magazines and recipes, I got inspired and made dinner tonight, after all. It was simple, though, and super fast. We will definitely have this again, when the kids are home. I didn’t do a great job of tossing the pasta quickly enough when I added the eggs, so I did get a little bit of egg “curdling”, but this was still quite a success.
Pasta Carbonara with Peas
adapted from a recipe in Fine Cooking magazine
2 very generous servings
1 Tbsp. olive oil
4 slices bacon, cut into small shreds
1/2 cup minced red onion
1 garlic clove, minced or pressed
2 large eggs
8 ounces (1/2 lb) spaghetti noodles, uncooked
1/2 cup plus 2 Tbsp. fresh grated Parmesan cheese
1 cup frozen green peas
small pinch of dried oregano leaves, optional
Kosher salt and fresh ground pepper to taste
Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil over high heat. Cook peas in a small microwaveable container, covered with water, in the microwave, for about 1 1/2 to 2 minutes, or until completely thawed but not hot. Drain and set aside.
Heat the olive oil in a large skillet over medium heat. Add the bacon and cook, stirring frequently, until bacon is golden and starting to crispen (about 5 minutes). Lower the heat slightly, if necessary. While the bacon is cooking, add the spaghetti to the boiling water and cook until just barely underdone. Add the onion and cook about 5 more minutes, until the onion is softened and the bacon is starting to crisp. Add the garlic and cook 30 seconds more, stirring frequently and scraping up any browned bits on the bottom of the pan. Remove pan from heat and set aside until spaghetti is done.
When spaghetti is almost al dente, drain it, reserving at least 1 cup of the cooking water. Do not rinse it. Add the spaghetti to the onion/bacon mixture in the skillet. Cook pasta mixture over medium heat, tossing with tons to coat the pasta with the bacon fat and finish cooking the pasta, adding a little of the cooking liquid, if necessary, to keep the pasta from sticking to the bottom of the pan. After cooking for about 1 minute, remove the pan from heat. Add a little more cooking water and then add the eggs to the pan, tossing immediately and frequently to coat the hot pasta with the eggs. It’s really important to move FAST here, or you will end up with scrambled eggs in your pasta. Toss for about 1 minute, until the eggs have thickened and coated the pasta. Add a little more pasta water, if necessary. Toss in 1/2 cup of the cheese, oregano and peas. Season generously with pepper to taste. Season with salt, if necessary (it may not be, depending upon how salty your bacon is). Serve immediately, sprinkling each portion with 1 Tbsp. of the remaining Parmesan.