Spaghetti Carbonara

This is a brilliant dinner which only takes ten minutes to whip up and tastes like you’ve gone to loads of trouble making it, when really it’s very easy! I think the recipe originally came from a Nigella or Jamie Oliver book but to be honest it’s been so long now I can’t remember.

It's also one of Chloe (my nearly sister in law)’s  favourite dinners. I passed the recipe on to her a few months ago when she went to uni and it is to her that I dedicate this now…

Ingredients

• 200gms pancetta, bacon or lardons- I use the little packets of pancetta lardons that you get in the cooked/cured meats section of the supermarket.
• 2 egg large yolks
• 1-2 big handfuls of freshly grated parmesan (please don’t use that saw dust that comes ready grated in cardboard pots, it’s worth buying a block of the cheese and doing it yourself)
• 150ml double cream- the smallest pot you can get in supermarkets
• 1 garlic clove
• Pasta/ spaghetti for 2-3 people
• Freshly ground black pepper

Method

1. Get a saucepan of water on to boil and when its ready add the pasta.
2. While this is cooking start warming up a frying pan on the hob with a tiny drizzle of olive oil. Chop the bacon/pancetta if that’s what you’re using (remember to remove the rind if you’re using a proper block of pancetta) and add to the pan, or if not just empty in the lardons.
3. Fry the pancetta and after about 2 minutes crush in the garlic clove. Fry until the pancetta is golden and crispy (about 3-5 mins) and remove from the heat.
4. In a little bowl mix together the egg yolks, cream and parmesan.
5. When the pasta is ready, drain it and return to the saucepan. Add the pancetta and give it all a good stir then pour in the cream mixture and mix quickly for a minute until the pasta is well coated with sauce. The heat from the pasta will cook the eggs so don’t worry about eating them raw, although you should always choose fresh, free range eggs. Make sure you stir the pasta as soon as the cream goes in, if you leave it to sit the eggs will scramble!
6. Season well with lots of black pepper and serve, the pancetta is quite salty so don’t add any extra salt until you taste it.

p.s. make sure you eat it all, this dish doesn’t reheat well for some reason! Also, it’s really nice if you add some finely diced courgette while the pancetta is cooking.