Friday Night Reward

It's Friday night. Everyone is tired and feels battered by the week. We usually watch a movie after dinner. Dinner has to be fast, easy and incredibly comforting, with minimal clean up. Generally I pick from a small repertoire of dishes, all involving enough melted cheese to give us all coronaries. It could be pizza made on Indian bread, a pecorino/leek omelet, or the recipe for Spagetti Carbonara below, which doesn't have as much melted cheese, but has enough bacon for the same effect. Some might think the 2:1 ratio of pasta to bacon a bit excessive. Well, you'd be right to think that. This recipe is so easy, my daughter makes it for her friends. She's very popular.

Friday Night Carbonara

Serves 4 as a main course

2 T. olive oil

1 onion, diced

1/2 lb. pancetta, sliced 1/4" thick and cut into matchsticks

3 cloves garlic, peeled

3 eggs

1 lb. spaghetti

handful of fresh parsley, finely chopped

grated parmesan cheese

fresh ground black pepper

Put up a big pot of boiling water for the pasta. Heat the olive oil in a medium skillet at medium high temperature. Lower the heat to medium and add the onion. Saute for a few minutes until onions are translucent and begin to take on a bit of color. Add the pancetta and garlic. Continue to cook until pancetta just begins to take on some color, about 5 minutes. Put the pasta in the boiling water and cook till al dente. Remove the garlic from the pancetta pan and remove from heat once the pancetta reaches the desired doneness.

With a wire whisk, beat the 3 eggs in a large serving bowl until frothy, with plenty of fresh ground black pepper.

Drain the pasta and add to the eggs. The heat from the pasta will cook the eggs. Add the pancetta/onion mixture. Add about 1/4 c. grated parmesan cheese. Toss all ingredients together and sprinkle with parsley. Serve with additional parmesan on the side.

Warm leftovers in a small pan or microwave.