I have been watching a new cooking show--America's Test Kitchen. I feel a bit nerdy watching it, but I love it. They had this recipe demonstrated a few weeks ago and I tried it last night. It was delicious, and even Jake loved it :) I also loved that it is fairly simple, inexpensive, and uses normal ingredients that I often have on hand.
Ingredients:
bacon (I used the whole box even though the original recipe calls for only 8 slices--can't go wrong with lots of bacon)
3 tsp minced garlic
1/2 cup water
1/2 lb pasta (I used linguini)
4 cups water
1 tsp salt
2 eggs, 1 egg yolk (so 3 eggs total)
1.5 cups cheese (I used an italian blend...mozzarella, parmesan, etc--all white cheeses)
1 tsp pepper
Directions:
1. Chop the bacon into 1/2 inch pieces. Pour 1/2 cup water into a large skillet and add the chopped bacon. Cook on medium/high heat until the bacon is lightly brown. (You don't want it too crispy.) Add the minced garlic, stir, and remove from heat.
3. Use a sieve to remove excess grease from the bacon, but reserve 1 tbsp for the pasta sauce. The sieve (rather than a strainer) preserves the minced garlic.
4. In a medium-sized bowl, whisk together the 2 eggs and 1 egg yolk. Add in the cheese, pepper, and bacon grease. Slowly whisk in the starchy pasta cooking water.
5. Pour sauce over the pasta noodles and stir for 2-3 minutes until the pasta is well-coated. Allow it to rest for 3-5 minutes until the sauce has thickened. The pasta must still be very hot to help cook the egg in the sauce, so if it has cooled, you may want to turn the stove back on for a couple of minutes to get it hot enough.
I sprinkled a touch of parsley on top for color. Very tasty :)
