Always start with bacon

Here's another recipe for you. This one is a good weeknight option since it doesn't take long to throw together but tastes like it took forever. However, this is in no way, shape, or form a diet dinner. Don't even try to make it one. Just love it for what it is and cut back somewhere else. The base of this dish is basically bacon fat.

I made this for dinner last night and enjoyed every bite. The bonus, your house will smell like bacon and garlic for a couple of hours. (Ok, so maybe not really a bonus.)

Are you ready?

I give you Pasta alla Carbonara!!

This recipe was given to me by my good friend's Italian mom. She got it from her Italian cousins in Italy. It's the real deal.

Sidenote: Having a friend in college whose mom is an amazing Italian cook and lives within 45 minutes of school is awesome! You always said 'yes' when you were invited over for dinner. It didn't matter that you were supposed to be taking a final or something silly like that.

Ok, here's the recipe:
1 lb. pasta
2 tblsp extra-virgin olive oil
4 ounces pancetta, cubed
4 cloves garlic, chopped
2 large eggs
1 cup grated Parmigiano cheese( plus extra for serving)
Freshly ground black pepper
1 handful fresh flat-leaf parsley, chopped

Prepare the sauce while the pasta is cooking to make sure that the pasta will be hot and ready when the sauce in finished. (It is very important that the pasta is hot when adding the egg mixture so that the heat of the pasta cooks the raw eggs in the sauce.)
Beat the eggs and cheese together in a mixing bowl, stirring well to prevent lumps. Make the pasta “al dente”, and make sure you reserve ½ cup of the pasta water to use in the sauce. Meanwhile, heat the oil in a deep skillet over medium flame. Add the pancetta and sauté for about 3 minutes to crisp it and render the fat.Toss the garlic into the fat and sauté for less that 1 minute just to soften it.Add the hot pasta (after it has been cooked and drained…set aside that ½ cup of pasta water), to the pan and toss for 2 minutes to coat the pasta in the fat.
Remove the pan from the heat and pour the egg/cheese mixture into the pasta, whisking quickly until the eggs thicken, but do not scramble (this is done off the heat to ensure that this does not happen).Thin out the sauce with a bit of the reserved pasta water until it reaches desired consistency.Season the carbonara with several turns of freshly ground black pepper and taste for salt.Mound the pasta into warm serving bowls and garnish with the chopped parsley.Pass more cheese around the table!