Carbonara

I usually try to plan out a weekly menu so I only need to hit up the grocery store once a week.  Having an 18 month old this is exceptionally beneficial because he can get a little wild in the cart sometimes.  Every now and then, however, for whatever reason, I have to push back my “normal” grocery day, Monday.  Sometimes it even gets pushed back to Wednesday ::gasp::.   

These weeks, I have to rely heavily on my pantry and freezer staples.  I always have some sort of pasta around, because Aiden will always eat pasta.  Aiden also loves peas, so I always have them in the freezer to throw in to dishes.  I normally have bacon around, for obvious reasons.     Eggs are a staple too, because that’s another last minute meal, or for when there is a cookie emergency.  When you toss all these ingredients together, you get one of my favorite last minute meals, Pasta Carbonara.

Serves 2 .5

½ box spaghetti
3 slices of bacon, diced
1 clove garlic, minced
2 eggs
2 T milk
½ c peas
1 lemon, zested
Parm, grated for garnish
Minced parsley, for garnish
Salt and Pepper, to taste

Render bacon over medium low heat until crispy.  Remove bacon and set aside to drain.  Reserve bacon fat.

While bacon is rendering, cook the pasta according to package instructions, about 2-3 minutes less than recommended.   Drain, reserving about a cup of pasta water.

Toss pasta in the pan with the bacon fat over medium heat.  Add garlic peas and some pasta water. 
Whisk eggs with milk.  Reduce heat to low and pour eggs into pasta.  Toss until pasta is coated with egg, adding more pasta water if necessary.   Add parsley and lemon zest and toss.  Garnish with parmesan cheese.

This is such a quick meal start to finish.  The only thing that takes any time is waiting for the pasta water to boil, during which you can prep everything else.  I can usually have it all ready in about 15-20 minutes.  You can add some diced chicken (I usually sauté it in the bacon fat) to it if you want.  It’s always so good and it’s great as leftovers too with an egg fried on it if you’re down with going egg crazy.
Enjoy!