Spaghetti a'la Carbonara

I used to feel slightly smug that I never really understood the intense love affair many people have with Italian food. I felt that I was missing something or perhaps smug because I wasn't a sheep and following the crowd. It's strange how you can change one small detail in a recipe you have been making for a while and suddenly understand what the fuss is all about. My squeamishness for runny egg yolks has always dissuaded me from making Spaghetti Carbonara in the traditional, authentic way. 

I would literally scramble the eggs creating a Carbonara any Italian aficionado would cringe at in disgust. Writing this blog has changed me in so far that I will now try many more things to increase my understanding of cooking and appreciation of foods I may not have tried before. So tonight, I left the eggs runny, just stirring them into the pasta for a brief time. The Parmesan cheese melted into the eggs creating a rich, creamy sauce rather than the usual lumpy affair I am used to. So, even though I am an advocate of experimentation and not being a slave to hard and fast recipes, tonight I learned the reason why a recipe is as it should be and enjoyed the best Carbonara I have ever had.

Recipe

1/2 cup leftover cooked ham or bacon or Prosciutto or Pancetta

1 tbsp oil

1 clove garlic, peeled and cut in half

2 eggs

1/2 cup freshly grated Parmesan cheese

2 tbsp minced fresh parsley

freshly ground black pepper

spaghetti

• Bring a large saucepan of salted water to the boil, reduce heat and add the spaghetti.

• Heat the oil in a frying pan and fry the garlic for a few minutes just to perfume the oil. Remove the garlic and discard.

• Add your bacon, ham or Prosciutto etc. and either fry until crispy or warm through (if using cooked ham). Remove from the heat.

• Beat the eggs together and add 1/2 the Parmesan, half the parsley and some black pepper.

• When the spaghetti is cooked, drain and add to the pan with the bacon etc.

• With the heat on low-medium, pour the egg mixture over the bacon and spaghetti and quickly start stirring.

• Remove from the heat while the egg is still liquid and add the rest of the Parmesan and stir well.

• Garnish with the remaining parsley and serve.