Spaghetti Carbonara

I decided to make this for the first time about 3 years ago. We were living in Chicago on a pretty tight budget and I couldn't get my husband to eat pasta! The only "pasta" he would even think about eating at that point was a package of ramen noodles. To me, someone who had never heard of ramen noodles until I lived on my own for the first time and who ate pasta at least twice a week growing up, this was absurd! I came across this recipe in a cookbook that I randomly picked up at Costco, it's titled Cook Yourself Thin. I guess these woman have a show on Lifetime as well, but I still haven't caught an episode. All I know is that this recipe is what was able to get my husband to start eating pasta! So for that, kudos to the Cook Yourself Thin team! Without further ado, here is the recipe that started it all:



Spaghetti Carbonara

3 slices bacon
1 tsp. olive oil
1 small onion diced
1/3 C. low-fat (1%) milk (I use skim and it seems to work just fine)
1 large egg
8 ounces spaghetti
1 C. frozen peas
6 T. finely grated Parmesan cheese
1/4 C. sliced fresh flat-leaf parsley
Salt, to taste
Pepper, to taste

Always make extra bacon for the dog!

Cook the bacon in a skillet until crisp. (My cookbook has the bacon splatter all over the page with this recipe to prove that we've made this quite a few times.) Drain the pan and dry the bacon on a paper towel. put pan back on the heat and add oil and onion. Cook until softened and translucent, about 3 minutes. Remove from heat.  Whisk together the egg and milk in a large serving bowl until well-combined. stir in the onion.

Cook the spaghetti according to the package directions. Two minutes before it's done cooking, stir in the peas. Drain and immediately transfer to the milk mixture. Toss until the pasta is well-coated. Add the cheese, parsley, salt(1/2 tsp. suggested), and pepper(1/4 tsp. suggested) and toss well. Crumble the bacon into small pieces over the spaghetti, and toss. Serve immediately.

Maybe it was that this wasn't a pasta served with a traditional red sauce, or maybe it was the fact that it contained bacon, whatever it was, Steve liked it! This recipe is a keeper! It has not only become a semi-regular meal in our home, but has also opened the door to so many other options for dinner in our kitchen.