Pasta Carbonara Servings: 6-8 Prep Time: 15-20 Minutes Quite Often Made with Spaghetti, but Feel Free to Use Any Pasta

Pasta Carbonara Servings: 6-8 Prep Time: 15-20 minutes Quite often made with spaghetti, but feel free to use any pasta. The peas are optionally, but do a nice fresh taste to this smoky creamy dish. Play around with different herbs, but fresh is certainly the best way to go. Basil and oregano work well. Bacon or pancetta is traditional but consider smoked salmon or shrimp as a twist. For a slightly healthier version, use half and half instead of full cream, but it won’t be quite as smooth and well, creamy. It’s your pasta though, play around and have fun. Ingredients: 1 cup fresh herbs 1 lb. pasta 2 tsp. black pepper, ground ½ - 1 lb. thick cut or slab bacon salt to taste 3 eggs Optional: ¼ cup sweet onion or shallot, finely minced ½ cup thawed frozen peas or cooked fresh peas 2-4 cloves garlic, finely minced 1 egg yolk per serving 1 cup grated parmesan cheese

1 cup heavy or whipping cream

Recipe: 1. Boil and cook pasta in salted water. 2. Meanwhile, cut bacon into ¼ inch lardoons or pieces and fry on medium heat until cooked but not crisp. Pour off excess fat from pan and sauté onion and garlic until tender but not browned. 3. Mix together eggs, cream, parmesan, salt and pepper until smooth and even. 4. Drain pasta and reserve a cup of the hot pasta water. 5. Return pasta to pot while still hot and toss and mix in the sauce along with the peas (optional) and most of the bacon and herbs. 6. Allow to sit for 2 minutes and see if the sauce and pasta are too thick. If they are, thin with the reserved pasta water. While stirring, add a little at a time until you get to your preferred thickness. 7. Serve hot and top each serving with extra parmesan, fresh cracked black pepper, herbs and (optional) an intact but uncooked egg yolk.