a story about bacon

one day, a pound of bacon walked into the kitchen. it accidentally walked into a skillet, but jumped out after getting a little toasty. some onions took its place with a little thyme, and the whole group took a dive into pasta, finding eggs and cheese at the bottom. and the bacon liked the eggs and cheese so much that it jumped up and down so everyone could get eggs and cheese with their pasta.

it seems like many of my food stories are about bacon or some other pork product, huh? this will remain the status quo unless my roommates talk even more about anatomy classes and the resemblance of…yeah. no worries. i’m still a meatitarian, albeit one that very much likes vegetables.

this is the second time we tried a carbonara – the first time ending up not really that creamily eggy. this time, for some unknown reason, was pretty darn good – so good that i am even writing up the recipe! the basic procedure is to add the peas to the pasta when it’s almost done, and i think that cooled the whole mixture enough to not curdle the eggs when mixed with it; then the hot onion mixture cooks it completely. that’s my guess, at the very least.

the quality of the ingredients is key; we also tried to add enough veg to make it a little more balanced. this is not a carbonara with a whole lot of sauce – it’s just sauce-y enough. we bought our bacon at whole foods.

carbonara with asparagus and peas

1 lb good quality thick-cut bacon
2 lbs onions (2-3 large onions), diced coarsely
a few sprigs thyme
1/2c white wine
1 bunch asparagus, chopped into 1″ long pieces
1 bag frozen peas (about 2 1/2 cups)
1 pound pasta (shells, pipette, orecchiette, etc)
1c grated parmesan or other hard cheese (asiago, romano)
4 eggs
salt and pepper

1. fry the bacon on medium heat in a large (12″) skillet. when it is done (chewy but not crispy), drain on a plate lined with paper towels. pour all of the rendered fat except for 1 1/2T into a bowl; reserve the fat in the bowl for future use. cut the cooked bacon into small 1/2″ long pieces.

2. add the onions to the pan and saute until pale. add the thyme and continue cooking. when onions start to stick to the pan a little, add the white wine and let it boil off, stirring the onions occasionally.

3. whisk together the cheese and eggs in the serving bowl.

4. fill a large stockpot with water and heat for the pasta. add the asparagus and bacon pieces to the onion mixture and cook on medium-low. when the water boils, cook the pasta. when the pasta is about two minutes from being done, add the peas. when the pasta is done, drain, reserving about a half-cup of the liquid. turn the heat on the onion mixture to medium-high to keep it piping hot.

5. pour the drained pasta and 1/4c reserved pasta water into the egg mixture and stir thoroughly. add the onion and asparagus mixture and stir. if the mixture is too thick, add the remaining pasta water. season with salt and pepper.

[serves 6-8]