Pasta Carbonara

***I MUST PRE-APOLOGIZE TO YOU ALL FOR THE GHASTLY PICTURES IN THIS RECIPE! I was cooking at Daniel's house and, obviously boys don't have any pretty bowl or plates to cook with. Please forgive me!!!***

You'd think that given my obsession with Italian food, I'd have made a pasta carbonara before. Negative, my friends. I had never made it before last night because I was afraid of eating the raw eggs (I'm not exactly sure why that was my reason given that raw cookie dough is one of the most delicious things in the whole wide world). And, the hot pasta cooks the eggs so I needed to get over my fear. Anyways, I gave Daniel 3 choices for dinner and this was one of them. He (and I) is usually a little skeptical of me trying new recipes out on him because if I fail, then we both get cranky and are out of things to eat. But, I found a great recipe for this on Bethenny Frankel's website (here) and gave it a little twist to make it my own. If you're sick of spaghetti and bolognese (which we are!) then this is always going to be delicious and safe to try! And if you follow this recipe, it is low fat and healthy(ish)!

What you'll need:
Whole wheat spaghetti
3/4 cups skim milk (yes, skim)
3/4 cup grated parmesan cheese (that's the kind that looks like dust)
2 eggs
2 tbs. earth balance (the soy/vegan butter)
1 package pancetta (Trader Joe's has it!)
1 tsp. garlic salt
1 tsp. pepper
1/2 tsp. red pepper flakes
Kosher salt

1. Bring your pasta water to a boil and add kosher salt (this is your only chance to flavor the actual pasta!).

2. In a large skillet, cook the pancetta on medium heat until all the fat cooks out and it turns brown around the edges. Place it on a paper towel to drain.

 

3. Meanwhile, in a large bowl mix together the eggs, milk, parmesan, half of the garlic salt and half of the pepper. Set aside.

4. RIGHT when the pasta is done, drain it (reserve some of the pasta water to thin out the sauce if you need to) and add the above mixture to it. Toss immediately.

5. When all of the pasta is evenly coated, toss in the pancetta, garlic salt, pepper, and red pepper flakes.

6. If the sauce is too thick, add a little bit of the pasta water at a time to thin it out.
7. Top with some fresh basil (and maybe a little more parmesan) and chow down!!!

enjoy :)