Spaghetti Carbonara

Saw this recipe and said yes to it for one important reason: BACON!   I am really a bacon lover.  And in this recipe your use some of the bacon grease for your sauce...which gives it wonderful flavor.  It's really easy too.  My only issue was getting the bacon to be crispy.  I had a hard time cooking "chopped bacon" - had to cook it for longer than I thought because every time I stirred it there was still some not getting cooked.  So all my bacon wasn't crispy.  But I'd start on that before you cook your pasta because it takes longer than spaghetti anyway.  Here's the link to the original recipe, from allrecipes.com.

Makes 8 "servings" - depends what you call a serving when you're hungry for this!

1 pound spaghetti

1 tablespoon olive oil

8 slices bacon, diced

1 tablespoon olive oil

1/2 onion, chopped

1 clove garlic, minced

1/4 dry white wine (optional) - I used just a splash of cooking wine because I was afraid of losing liquid

4 eggs

1/2 grated Parmesan cheese

Parsley

1. Chop your bacon and cook it in a large skillet.  In a large pot, cook your pasta until al dente.  Drain pasta, return to pot, and toss with a tablespoon of oil or enough so that it will not stick to your pot.

2. Remove bacon from skillet and drain on paper towels.  Keep 2 tablespoons of bacon grease (I didn't have that much - I kept it all!).  Add a tablespoon of olive oil to bacon grease and heat.  Add chopped onion and cook until translucent.  Add minced garlic and cook one minute.  Add wine if desired and cook another minute.

3. Add skillet mixture and bacon to spaghetti and mix well.  Re-heat spaghetti on med-low or low.  Add more olive oil if it is sticking to the bottom of the pan.  

4.  Beat eggs.  Add parmesan cheese and mix well.  Pour into spaghetti and continually toss while heating.  Sprinkle in parsley and mix.

Ta-dah!  Don't forget some garlic bread!