Pasta Carbonara with Missy Tippens

Missy, here, sharing one of my favorite pastas with you. I don't think I had ever made this before, but I sure love to order it at restaurants.

So when I got a craving, I went digging. Found a recipe in my Better Homes and Gardens New Cookbook--the plaid book. (Mine's pink plaid for breast cancer awareness).

Pasta Carbonara

Adapted from the Better Homes and Gardens New Cook Book

I made a double recipe. So these amounts are for a double recipe (which will serve 4-6 people).

12 slices bacon, cut into pieces
1 box pasta--fettuccini or linguine (about 12 ounces dried)
2 eggs beaten
2 cups half-and-half
4 tablespoons butter
1 cup grated parmesan
Snipped fresh parsley (I didn't have any)

Cook bacon, drain and set aside. I used already cooked bacon and heated until crisp.

Cook pasta, drain, and keep warm.

Now, here's the hard part. (You'll see I messed it up!)

In a sauce pan, combine egg, half-and-half and butter. Cook over medium heat, stirring, until it's thick enough to coat a spoon (about 5-6 minutes). But DO NOT BOIL! Unfortunately, I had the temp too high and scrambled some of the egg. GRRRRR. So frustrating. I think I just got sidetracked, because I knew to be careful. So keep your heat low enough.

I was going to start over but didn't have enough cream. Then I had a brilliant idea, if I do say so myself. :) I strained out the scrambled part!

Pour sauce right over the warm pasta (and hopefully, for you, that's not through a strainer!) Toss gently to coat.

Add bacon, cheese and parsley and mix. Season with freshly-ground pepper.

This was so creamy and the egg makes it very rich. And though I nearly had another kitchen fail, all turned out well!