Spaghetti Carbonara

I clipped this recipe out of a magazine ages ago, but never got around to making it...until now! As many of you know, spaghetti carbonara has always been one of my favorite dishes. Now, this isn't my momma's recipe. I feel very guilty saying this...but...I think it is better than the recipe I adored as a child. Please enjoy another post which extols the virtue of our friend Bacon.

Ingredients:
- 1 pound spaghetti
- 8 ounces pancetta or 8 slices thick-cut bacon, diced
- 2 large eggs
- 2 large egg yolks
- 1 & 1/4 cup (5 oz) freshly grated Pecorino Romano cheese
- Salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste

Recipe:
1. Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil. Add the pasta and cook for 10-12 minutes or until al dente.

2. While the pasta is cooking, heat a large skillet over medium-high heat. Add the pancetta and cook until crisp, about 6 minutes. Remove all but 1 tablespoon of the fat.

3. Reserve 1/2 cup of the pasta water and then drain the pasta. Add the pasta to the skillet of pancetta and toss to combine.

4. In a large bowl, whisk the eggs with the egg yolks. Turn off the heat under the skillet, add the eggs and 1 cup of the cheese, and toss thoroughly to combine. Add the reserved pasta water as needed to thin the sauce to the desired consistency. Season with salt and a generous amount of black pepper.

5. Serve immediately with the remaining 1/4 cup cheese sprinkled on top. Makes 6 servings.

Notes:
I halved the recipe since I was just making it for myself. As much as I love spaghetti carbonara, I didn't want to be eating it for a week straight. I used fettuccine instead of spaghetti, because that's what was in my cupboard. I used bacon instead of pancetta and Parmesan instead of Pecorino Romano cheese. Apparently they are quite similar, except Parmesan is made from cow's milk, whereas Pecorino is made from ewe's milk. Who knew?

I thought the pepper added a nice touch, but I didn't add any extra salt. In my mind, bacon is salty enough on its own. To me, this is the ultimate comfort food and brought back fond memories of my childhood. The reason I prefer it to my momma's version is because my mom's (although consistently delectable) could get a wee bit dry sometimes. But since this recipe brought in the pasta water, it avoided that pitfall. Overall, an easy recipe, and I didn't even need to go to the grocery store. It helped me use up stuff I already had hanging around, which I like.

You know what? I'm just going to add "bacon" as a label for our posts. It deserves a place amongst standard categories like "breakfast" and "casserole." Pasta + Bacon = Happiness.