Bacon and Egg Pasta (Pasta Carbonara)

Set a stockpot of salted water on high, to boil for the pasta. When water boils, add pasta and cook according to package directions. Drain, reserving 1/2 cup of hot pasta water.

As you wait for your water to boil and your pasta to cook, dice bacon and onion, and mince or press garlic cloves. Give parsley a rough chop, and set aside.

In a large pan over medium heat, cook bacon and onions together until bacon is just crispy and golden. Add garlic to pan and saute for 30 seconds, or until garlic just begins to brown. Using a paper towel held by tongs, blot as much grease as you can from the bottom of the pan. Remove from heat, cover, and wait for pasta to finish cooking.

Beat egg whiles and yolks together. Into the eggs, beat milk (or half-and-half), 1/2 cup of the Parmesan cheese, salt and pepper. When pasta is drained, add 1/4 cup of the hot reserved pasta water slowly to temper eggs. If the water has cooled down by this point, heat it in the microwave, so it’s hot but not boiling, before adding to eggs.

Over low heat, add cooked pasta to large pan with bacon, onion, and garlic (if your pan is not large enough, you can add pasta back to the stock pot and add the pan contents to that). Slowly add the egg mixture, stirring constantly to evenly distribute the sauce in the pasta. Add half of your chopped Italian parsley and continue to stir for 2 minutes (use your judgement if you need more or less time) to allow sauce to fully cook and thicken. When the sauce is clinging to the pasta, it is finished. If pasta is too thick, add remaining reserved pasta cooking water slowly, bit by bit, to bring it to a stirrable consistency.

Divide pasta into bowls, and garnish with remaining Parmesan cheese and Italian parsley. Serve with crusty bread.