The Not-so-Italian Spaghetti alla Carbonara

Why not so Italian ? Because I wanted it extra creamy and added cream. Ouch!



For 4 people

Ingredients

• 500 grs spaghetti
• 150 grs pancetta or lardons - I obviously used the smoked variety from our own pigs
• 2 cloves of garlic, unpeeled and crushed 
• 3 free range eggs
• 100 ml cream - maybe a bit more, because I really wanted it extra creamy
• 100 grs grana padano, grated at home - that is what I used, but it should actually be half and half Parmesan/Pecorino 
• Black pepper, freshly pestled-and-mortered

Method

• Bring a large pan of water to the boil. When it boils add salt  (you know as salty as the Mediterranean). Cook the spaghetti al dente. Stir sometimes to prevent it sticking, especially at the beginning.
• While the water was heating up, you should have been busy already softly, softly frying off the lardons in some oil, butter or lard in a frying pan. You added the 2 crushed garlic cloves too. They come back out at a later stage. The lardons should be golden and crispy, but I prefer when they are a bit softer. 
• Now take out the garlic. and add black pepper to lardons.
• Whisk the eggs somewhat together with the cream.
• When the pasta is cooked, lift it out with a slotted spoon and add to the frying pan that contains the bacon. It doesn't matter that the 'hanging' cooking water is added, it brings a little extra liquid to the 'sauce'.
• Heat through.
• Add the grated cheese to the egg mixture.
• Take the pasta off the heat and stir in the eggs, cheese and cream.
• Lifting the pasta and stirring till  the strands are covered and the sauce has thickened.
• You can still add some salt to this, but I believe with the lardons, cheese and Mediterranean sea water it should suffice.
• Serve immediately, sprinkled with more black pepper and grated cheese.

I'm sure there is no need for me to add to the many, many recipes for carbonara that are available on the internet. But maybe, when you're browsing through my blog and come across this one, it might remind you what a simple to make and deliciously tasty meal this is.

Patricia xxx...x