Carbonara

Maddy got in trouble at school yesterday. She had to "sit on the wall" during recess. I guess her best friend was playing with some other girls and Maddy was jealous so she told her friend she was "playing with those uncool girls". Yep, she got in trouble for saying someone wasn't cool. lol. Boy, things have sure changed since I was in school. But it's good. I don't want her being like that, plus it gave us an opportunity to talk about it.

I made Carbonara last night. It is my new recipe of the week. I like doing them on Monday because I'm too excited to wait til later in the week. I'm such a dork. It was really good. The recipe calls for quite a bit of garlic. I put the whole amount in but really, it was too much garlic for us. The kids didn't like it. Maddy said it was spicy. Next time I'm going to use about half as much and go from there. It looked so good I forgot to take a picture of it on my plate, so this pic doesn't do it justice. Here it is....

Salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste
1 pound rigatoni
1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil
1/4 pound pancetta, chopped. (I had to look this up online. It's Italian bacon. I just used regular bacon)
1 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes
5 or 6 cloves garlic, chopped
1/2 cup dry white wine
2 large egg yolks
1/2 cup grated Romano cheese
And handful of finely chopped fresh flat-leaf parsley, for garnish (optional)

Put a large pot of water on to boil. Add a liberal amount of salt and rigatoni; cook to al dente, about 8 minutes.

Meanwhile, heat a large skillet over medium heat. Add 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.

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.

Drain pasta well and add it directly tot he skillet with pancetta and oil. Pour the egg mixture over the pasta. Toss rapidly to coat the pasta without cooking the egg. Remove the pan from eat 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 the egg mixture and thickens, 1 to 2 minutes. Garnish wit parsley, i desired, and extra cheese. Serve with green salad on the side.