Pasta Carbonara. Two words that used to evoke the fear of god in me. How do I possibly cook the eggs without scrambling them? How could an egg based sauce be good? ZOMGWTFBBQ!!!!!! Needless to say I’ve become a pretty good home cook but I’m remained rather afraid of the elusive Carbonara. That was until I watched Nigella make it. It looked so simple! How could I possibly be afraid of this? So I had to try it and I was absolutely and unequivocally hooked. As I anticipate you will be too. Try it, its amazing.

First, add a pot of water to the stove on high heat.

While that comes to a boil, crack 4 eggs into a bowl.

Whoops, broke a yolk.

Beat them like they owe you money.

Now add a half cup of parmesan cheese.

A quarter cup of heavy cream (okay I get a little heavy handed with the cream).

Lots and lots and lots of pepper.

Nigella didn’t do this but I like to add it. Especially anything with eggs and cream. A little bit of fresh nutmeg.

Mix it up and set aside.

Set a pan on the stove and add 2 tsp of olive oil to heat up.

Now pull out about 4 ounces of panchetta. Because I’m lazy and this is easy I get the pre chopped kind. Of course you could chop your own if you’re a goody two shoes frugal pants and want to save the 20 cents to get it not chopped.

Add it to the pan and let it sizzle.

Until it looks like this.

Add a quarter cup of wine to the pan.

Once it gets to this point turn the heat to low so that it keeps warm.

By now the water should be boiling. Add some salt. I use spaghetti but you could use angel hair or some other pasta. I wouldn’t use ziti or something similar. It’d trap too much of the sauce and taste too eggy if that’s a word.

Add it to the water and cook according to box directions. You cold always end a little early if you like it really al dente.

When it’s finished pull the pasta from the water.

and add it to the panchetta.

Stir it up until the panchetta is evenly distributed and the liquid is absorbed.

Add the egg mixture

Stir constantly over low-ish heat until the sauce is thickened and evenly distributed.

Now add to serving bowls and top with a little extra parmesan cheese.

Now bask in the glory of Carbonara. Once you taste this you’ll start craving it nightly. You’ll be pondering how often you could feasibly make this. Perhaps 3 times a day maybe more. Enjoy.