ÜberJoy

Lazy

I sure have been lazy blogging for a while. It seems I'm on a food kick. I went to the doctor today and to much my surprise my thickburger did not send me over the edge in lbs that I have gained, "whew". I'm still not going to indulge again, though.
Anyway, I am making my all time favorite dinner tonight. It seems fancy and little weird with the raw eggs yolks tossed in at the last minute but it is "super fantastic", as my good friend would say. It's even better if you have left overs the next day. I know of people that have put shrimp with this too and said it is good, I am not a huge shrimp fan. This is from my squeaky voice friend, Rachael Ray, gosh I love her, but I always have to turn down the volume when I watch her. Let me know if you try this! We like things pretty spicy so I always add more red pepper than it calls for. I don't quite use that much garlic either, 2 cloves or so.

Pasta Carbonara

Ingredients:
# Salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste
# 1 pound pasta, such as spaghetti or rigatoni
# 1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil (enough to coat bottom of pan)
# 1/4 pound pancetta (Italian bacon), chopped (I use reg. bacon)
# 1 teaspoon red pepper flakes
# 5 to 6 cloves garlic, chopped
# 1/2 cup dry white wine
# 2 large egg yolks
# Freshly grated Romano cheese
# Handful of finely chopped fresh flat-leaf parsley, for garnish

Directions:

1. Put a large saucepot of water on to boil. Add a liberal amount of salt and the pasta. Cook to al dente, about 8 minutes.

2. Meanwhile, heat a large skillet over medium heat. Add the olive oil and pancetta. Brown pancetta 2 minutes. Add red pepper flakes and garlic and cook 2 to 3 minutes more. Add wine and stir up all the pan drippings.

3. In a separate bowl, beat yolks, then add 1 large ladleful (about 1/2 cup) of the pasta cooking water. This tempers the eggs and keeps them from scrambling when added to the pasta.

4. Drain pasta well and add it directly to the skillet with pancetta and oil. Pour the egg mixture over the pasta. Toss rapidly to coat the pasta without cooking the egg. Remove pan from heat and add a big handful of cheese, lots of pepper, and a little salt. Continue to toss and turn the pasta until it soaks up egg mixture and thickens, 1 to 2 minutes. Garnish with parsley and extra grated Romano.