Bacon and Eggs and Linguine

We love to have breakfast for dinner at our house.  Some bacon, some eggs, some...linguine? 
Really, though, pancakes with bacon and eggs are a favorite.  But I don't always feel like making pancakes.  They can be rather time consuming: my griddle isn't very big, so I end up having to cook one pancake at a time. Plus they can be messy-batter dripped all over the counter, and the clean up is sticky.

Then, one day, as I was looking through one of my cookbooks, 1000 Best Ever Recipes (which is an enormous British tome my mother-in-law gave me; about 3 inches thick and 20 pounds!) I discovered a recipe for Carbonara, which is linguine with bacon and eggs.  It looked (and is) pretty simple to make. And it turns out so delicious that you'd think it took ages to make.

So, if I have bacon around, or pancetta, and I don't feel like making pancakes, I make Carbonara instead.  You can do it too;  it's easy!

Bring a large pot of water to boil.

In the meantime: cut up 8 oz of ham, bacon, pancetta, into 1 inch sticks. Saute in some hot olive oil for 3-4 minutes. Add about a cup of peas or, sliced mushrooms and fry for another 4 minutes.  Turn off heat.

Fryin' up the bacon. Or prosciutto, as is the case here.

When the water comes to a boil, put 12 oz of pasta in to boil.  I used linguine.  The recipe suggests fresh tagliatelle or spaghetti. You know, whatever pasta you have on hand will work!

Boiling the pasta

While the pasta is cooking, beat together 4 eggs, 5 tbsp half and half, and salt& pepper to taste.
Once the pasta is cooked, almost al dente, drain it, and put it back in the cook pot.  Put the ham, peas (or mushrooms), and any pan juices into the pot with the pasta and give it a stir.  

Pour the egg mixture and about a tablespoon of parmesan cheese over everything.  Stir it all together until the pasta is coated.  The eggs will cook in the hot pasta but stir it around for a few minutes just to be sure. 

All in the pot!

Serve the pasta into warm bowls & garnish with fresh grated parmesan and maybe even some fresh parsley or basil if you have it on hand.  This makes a bunch, and since it's so easy, its a great dish to serve for company. 

Pasta Carbonara!

What's cooking in your kitchen?