An Adventure in Being a Housewife: Spaghetti Carbonara

I'm back...with an actual recipe!!! I know...you're having trouble containing your excitement. I'm right there with you! It was actually a spontaneous idea to make the recipe in the first place, let alone blog about it. Jon wanted to get a frozen bagged pasta (we've become addicted to Voila garlic chicken pasta) but then I had a crazy thought...why not make pasta? Weird right? And then I remembered this recipe...and the rest is history. So first off I want to give credit where credit is due. This recipe is from Redbook and its amazing! Also, I got a whole stack of these (and other great magazines) from my friend Joleen and so technically this wouldn't be possible without her! So lets get right into it! The recipe is actually online, which means I can copy and paste! Perfect.

1 pound(s) spaghetti
3 extra-large eggs
1/4 cup(s) chopped flat-leaf parsley
1/4 teaspoon(s) hot red pepper flakes
1/4 teaspoon(s) salt
2 tablespoon(s) olive oil
4 ounce(s) diced pancetta or thick-cut bacon
1 tablespoon(s) minced garlic
1/2 teaspoon(s) ground black pepper
1/3 cup(s) frozen peas, thawed
1/2 cup(s) freshly grated Parmesan cheese

In a large pot, cook spaghetti according to package directions, about 8 to 11 minutes. Drain noodles, reserving 1 cup pasta water.
Meanwhile, whisk together eggs, parsley, pepper flakes, and salt.
Add oil to a large, deep skillet and cook pancetta over medium heat, stirring frequently, about 6 minutes or until lightly browned. Add garlic and black pepper and cook 1 minute more, then reduce heat to medium-low.
Add pasta, egg mixture, and peas, plus half of the pasta water, to skillet with pancetta. Stir and cook 1 to 2 minutes, adding more pasta water if necessary, until sauce has a creamy consistency. Mix in grated cheese; serve immediately.

Now I made a few changes to this recipe (I call this pulling a Rachel Ray) so its up to you if you want to change it like I did. First off, I have no idea what pancetta is so I used chicken instead. I suppose I could of googled it but Jon said "I've had it with chicken before" and that was enough for me! So chicken it was. Also I added more parsley. Anyone who knows me, knows that I love parsley so it stands to reason thats I would use an excessive amount. And I just got a lot of fresh parsley from my mom (best brithday present ever!) so I figured I would put it to good use! Other than those two changes, I followed the recipe. Now I can't honestly say that I did this whole meal by myself, Jon helped. He grilled the chicken and cut it up so everyone give an "atta boy" to him.

In all, the meal took about 30 min. to make. You know how they say a watched pot never boils? It's true. At least 15 min. of the time was spent waiting (rather impatiently) for that darn water to boil. 4 quarts of water is a huge amount! And another side note, the recipe says it makes 6 servings but seeing as how it called for a pound of pasta, I think Jon and I will be eating pasta for the next week. But the recipe turned out amazing so I don't mind!

Thats a lot of pasta!

Yum!

Final Thoughts: as I have said the pasta was amazing! This is definitely one I will make again! Jon said it was his 5th favorite meal I've ever made (apparently he has a list going). So HUGE success! So peeps, now its your turn!! pull out this recipe when you want to have a delish meal, impress your friends, or get onto your husbands 'best meals' list. Enjoy!!