Spaghetti Carbonara

This delicious, super-easy-to-make pasta is a simple dish with one very important addition - bacon!!

Spaghetti Carbonara

from What To Cook and How To Cook It by Jane Hornby

1 tsp salt

7 oz. spaghetti

1 clove garlic

4 strips smoked dry-cured bacon, or 3 1/2 oz. smoked bacon lardons, or pancetta cubes

1 tbsp light olive oil

1 1/2 oz. Parmesan cheese (about 1/2 cup grated)

3 large eggs

salt and pepper

1. Put a large pot of water over high heat and bring it to a boil. Add the salt, then add the spaghetti and bring back to a boil. Stir once, turn the heat down a little, and boil until pasta is tender.
2. While the pasta cooks, start the sauce. Mince the garlic and chop the bacon into small pieces. Heat a large frying pan over medium heat, then add the oil. After about 30 seconds, add the chopped bacon and the garlic. Fry for 8-10 minutes, or until the bacon is golden and crisp and the fat has run out. Take the pan off the heat.
3. While the bacon cooks, finely grate the Parmesan cheese and beat the eggs in a measuring cup with a fork. Mix half of the Parmesan into the eggs. Season with salt and pepper.
4. When the pasta is done, reserve a cup of its cooking water, then drain the rest of it out. Add the pasta to the bacon pan, add 2 tablespoons of the reserved cooking water, then pour the egg and cheese mixture over it. Toss everything together quickly, so that the egg mixture, bacon and its juices coat the pasta. The residual heat in the pan and the pasta will be enough to just cook the eggs to a creamy sauce within about 1 minute.
5. Serve topped with the rest of the Parmesan cheese and a little black pepper.