Carbonera

Hello all,

Matt introduced me to a new recipe called carbonera. Maybe you've heard of it but I hadn't until recently. Melory used to have it growing up. It's the equivalent of macaroni and cheese to italians (when she was little she lived all over Europe). Here's the simple version:

Ingredients:

4 servings pasta (your choice)

2 or 3 eggs

8-10 slices bacon

Directions:

Bring water to a boil and cook the pasta according to the directions. While that is started, fry the bacon up. Keep the bacon grease on the side and crumble up the bacon. Once the pasta is cooked drain the water and put the noodles back in the pot. Beat the eggs and then add it to the pasta while stirring quickly. The heat from the pasta will help to cook the egg. Then once the egg is all mixed in, pour the bacon grease on top and stir in thoroughly. This helps the egg to finish cooking. Add the crumbled up bacon.

It sounds simple but it is really good. If you don't like the idea of using the bacon grease, you could wipe out most (not all) of it and add about the same amount of olive oil to the pan and heat it up. That appears to be what one restaurant did. It won't have the same flavor if you do this though.

Variations:

Saute' red peppers and add it to the pasta after the egg is cooked through. Or you can boil peas and add the cooked peas to the mixture. Put the whole mixture into a glass dish and sprinkle with bread crumbs and Parmesan cheese and bake until the top is light brown (probably 3-4 minutes at 400 degrees).

The bacon and bacon grease make it high in fat so I wouldn't have it everyday. But it is quick to make and very good to eat and so you might try it just to have something different one day.