Penne Carbonara

Inspired by Adam’s post on Amateur Gormet about Penne Carbonara, I decided to try it myself. My teenage son and his buddy arrived home at dinnertime today , and I decided it was the perfect opportunity to try it out. Being a lover of cheese and garlic, I fiddled with the recipe a bit. Oh yea. I’ll be making more of this.

1 lb Penni pasta
2 eggs
2 cups grated fresh parmigiano reggiano
2 cloves garlic, minced
3 strips bacon
2 Tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
1/4 cup white wine

Cut the bacon into strips 1/4 inch wide and 1 inch long.

Start the pasta cooking in salted boiling water, cook until Al Dente.

Immediately after putting the pasta into the boiling water, put the olive oil and garlic in a saute pan over medium-high heat. When the garlic turns golden, add the bacon and fry until lightly browned. Remove from heat. Pour in the wine and deglaze the pan.

At the same time that the pasta is boiling and the bacon is frying, crack two egs into a large bowl, whisk them a bit until the yolks and whites are well blended. Add the parmigiano reggiano.

OK, the objective is to have the egg-cheese mixture ready just as the pasta is done and the bacon/wine mixture is ready. Drain the pasta, add it to the egg/cheese mixture, and stire to coat the pasta and cook the eggs. Add the bacon/wine mixture (complete with bacon grease) and mix well. Add salt to taste.

Serves 4 adults or 2 hungry teenagers.