Food & Drink

Shellie’s Spaghetti Carbonara

Serves 4

From the author:
My high school friend Shellie Unger is a fabulous cook. I remember her mother growing fresh herbs and preserving fruit in brandy during those stodgy casserole years of the South when few cooks prepared food that was out of the ordinary. Shellie took her mother’s creativity in the kitchen and added her own flourishes along with the practicality that comes from working for years as an executive for a huge mutual fund group, raising two children, and traveling with her family. Shellie says the recipe that her kids request when they come home to Pennsylvania to visit or that she turns to when she needs to impress friends quickly is her spaghetti carbonara. She studied Mario Batali’s recipe, then Ruth Reichl’s recipe, and then perfected her own. On a trip to London she and her son Trey ordered this as a brunch appetizer and it included baby peas, so now she adds peas. Shellie says this recipe originated in the coal mining region of Italy. She adds with a smile, “What could be better than bacon and eggs with pasta, Italian style?” I agree, wholeheartedly.

Prep: 15-20 minutes
Cook: 15-20 minutes

INGREDIENTS

2 tablespoons salt
2 tablespoons olive oil or butter, or a combination of the two
6 to 8 ounces pancetta (see Note), chopped
2 cloves garlic, peeled
1 pound spaghetti
4 large eggs, at room temperature
1¼ cups grated good Parmesan cheese (Parmigiano-Reggiano or Grana Padano)
Freshly ground black pepper
½ to ¾ cup frozen baby peas, thawed

INSTRUCTIONS

Bring a large pot of water to a boil over high heat and add the salt.
Meanwhile, place the olive oil or butter, pancetta, and garlic in a large skillet over medium-high heat and cook until the pancetta renders its fat but is not crisp, 3 to 4 minutes. Remove the skillet from the heat and discard the garlic cloves. Do not drain the fat from the skillet.
When the water is boiling, add the spaghetti and stir to separate the pasta strands. Reduce the heat to medium and let the spaghetti cook at a simmer until al dente, 6 to 7 minutes.
While the spaghetti cooks, break the eggs into a large shallow serving bowl and whisk until the yolks and whites are just combined. Add 1 cup of the Parmesan cheese, the cooled pancetta and drippings, and a generous grinding of pepper.
When the spaghetti has cooked, drain it, setting aside ¼ cup of the pasta cooking water, and add the spaghetti to the bowl with the egg mixture. Toss the spaghetti until the egg sauce cooks and the pasta is well coated. Add enough of the reserved pasta water as needed so the strands of spaghetti do not stick together. Fold in the peas.
Serve the spaghetti at once with the remaining ¼ cup of Parmesan on the side for sprinkling on top.

NOTES
-I’d serve it with . . . steamed spinach or broccolini.
-Pancetta is Italian bacon, and you can find it at delis that specialize in Italian ingredients.
-While this is a last-minute recipe, you can pre-chop the pancetta and place it back in the fridge, peel the garlic cloves, thaw the peas, and grate the Parmesan. If you want to reheat leftovers, save a little extra pasta cooking water to pour over the top.
-To save money, omit the pancetta and use thick-sliced bacon.

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