This is a not-very-authentic take on the classic carbonara - very flavourful and yummy, without cream. WARNING - this dish is yummy but calorific.
Ingredients (feeds two hungry adult humans):
250g streaky unsmoked bacon, cut into 1/2in pieces, or cubed pancetta if you're feelin' fancy.
200g Tagliatelle or Linguine pasta
4 cloves garlic, thinly sliced (less if you aren't a garlic fiend, which I am)
1/2 large onion, diced small
1/2 cup white wine
1/2 cup chicken stock
2 large eggs
3/4 - 1 cup Parmesan cheese, grated
1/2 handful chopped parsley
2 tbsps butter (optional)
Method:
1. In a dry pan, fry the bacon pieces on medium heat until all the fat has rendered, and the bacon is golden brown and crispy. Using a slotted spoon, retrieve all the bacon from the pan, leaving the grease, and set aside on a dish.
2. In the same pan, dump in the diced onion and, on a medium heat, sauté for a couple of minutes.
3. Add the sliced garlic to the pan. Adding the garlic a little later prevents it from burning before the onions are done.
4. At this point you can start cooking your pasta, assuming it'll take about 10 minutes if the water is already boiling. You're aiming to time it so the pasta and bacon/onion goodness are about done at the same time.
5. Returning to the onion/garlic combo - again with a slotted spoon, remove all this from the pan and set aside, and now you can discard the bacon grease.
6. If you have NOT used a non-stick pan, you now will probably have a layer of brown, almost-burned bacon crud on the bottom of the pan. THIS IS GOOD STUFF. We now need to deglaze. Return the pan to high heat and at the exact moment it starts to smoke a little, pour in the white wine. WARNING - if you have a gas hob be careful not to set yourself on fire with the alcohol.
7. Scrape all the brown crud off the bottom of the pan, reduce heat to medium, then add the chicken stock. Bring back up to the boil then add the bacon, onions and garlic back into the pan. Leave this simmering on medium.
8. In the meantime, grab a large mixing bowl, preferably not metal. It needs to be pretty large to hold all the ingredients and leave room to stir it all. Crack two whole eggs into the bowl, then add the parsley and most of the Parmesan (leave a little out to go on top when serving). Mix it all together and set aside.
9. Once the pasta is cooked, drain. Working fast,immediately dump into the bowl with the eggs, and add the bacon/onion mixture on top, with a square of butter if desired. Mix everything together thoroughly and quickly. The heat from the pasta and bacon mix will thicken and cook the eggs but you need to mix quickly and thoroughly or you'll end up scrambling them.
10. Season with black pepper to taste - I don't recommend adding salt to this as the bacon and cheese are very salty already.
11. Serve with a little grated Parmesan on top!
Yummers.
