Pasta Carbonara

Tonight I made a Pasta Carbonara using egg noodles, bacon, peas, eggs, Parmesan and sour cream (of all things). I earnestly tried to photograph the process (per my previous promise), and yet half-way through I forgot and just plowed ahead. I'll get better as it becomes a habit - I hope - though Dan still regularly has to remind me to take photos of my meals, even after 2 years.

The recipe I used as my reference point is from the simply named Italian - another of my favorite cookbooks, thanks to it's 180 recipes and four full color photographs of each dish being made. I altered it a bit (sour cream instead of cream, peas instead of mushrooms, egg noodles instead of spaghetti), but having their framework to start with made things go much more smoothly than my previous Carbonara attempts.




Pasta Carbonara
12 oz Egg Noodles
2 Tbspn olive oil
1 large onion, thinly sliced
2 garlic cloves, chopped
8 oz bacon slices, cut into thin strips
1 Tbspn butter
8 oz frozen peas
1 cup sour cream
3 eggs, beaten
1/2 cup Parmesan cheese, grated
Salt & Pepper to taste

Cook the egg noodles, per the package instructions, then drain, place in a large bowl (or back in the empty pot) and set aside. In a large pan, heat the olive oil over medium heat, then add the onions. Cook until transluscent and slightly browned. Add garlic and bacon and cook until bacon is crisp. Remove the onions, garlic and bacon and add them to the pasta. Stir together the sour cream, eggs and most of the Parmesan (reserve about 2 Tbpsn), and season with salt & pepper. Melt the butter in the pan and turn the heat up to high. Add the peas and cook until they're bright green and heated through. Add the pasta/onion/bacon mixture back to the pan and stir to combine. Pour in the sour cream & egg mixture and continue stirring while the egg cooks. Sprinkle the reserved Parmesan on top and serve.