Spaghetti Carbonara

This dish looks kind of intimidating at first, but it really is an easy dish, plus, most of the ingredients are ones that are likely to be on hand. Besides the wine, of course. I buy little 4 packs of miniature wine bottles at the grocery store, so when I have a recipe that calls for wine, I don't have to go buy a whole bottle.

2 eggs
3 oz. parmesan cheese
1/2 cup loosely packed parsley leaves
1/4 tsp. freshly ground pepper
1/4 lb. thin sliced bacon
2 cloves garlic
3 tbsp. olive oil
1/2 cup dry white wine
1 tbsp. salt
1 lb. whole grain spaghetti

1. Put a large pot of water on to boil. Meanwhile, crack eggs into a large bowl and beat lightly. Finely shred or grate cheese, add half to eggs and set the rest aside. Finely chop parsley and add to eggs. Add pepper and whisk to combine well. Set aside.

2. Cut bacon into 1/4 in. thick slices, peel and chop garlic, and set both aside. Heat olive oil in small frying pan over medium high heat. Add bacon and cok, stirring occasionally, until it starts to brown. Add garlic and cook, stirring, until fragrant, about 1 minute. Add wine and cook until liquid is reduced by about half. (Which removes alcohol)

3. Cook pasta in boiling water. Drain well and immediately pour pasta into bowl with egg mixture. Toss to thoroughly coat pasta with egg mixture (the heat from the pasta will cook egg and melt cheese). Pour bacon mixture on top of pasta and toss to combine. Sprinkle with remaining cheese and garnish with more black pepper. Serve immediately.

My variations: I have used pasteurized egg, like egg beaters, before, and it's turned out fine. Also, I usually use just your average width bacon, which is fine, too. If the bacon is too thick, I've found, you get too much fat in the pan, so you'd have to either drain a little bit of fat before adding the white wine, or have greasier pasta. I've added red chile flakes with the garlic too, and that's been yummy.