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Bacon & Eggs Spaghetti

Source of Recipe

From "Food 52 Big Little Recipes" by Emma Laperruque


Recipe Introduction

"In The Essentials of Italian Cooking, Marcella Hazan writes about the rumored history of carbonara: 'During the last days of World War II, American soldiers in Rome who had made friends with local families would bring them eggs and bacon and ask them to turn them into pasta sauce.' Naturally, this meant adding cheese, be it Parmigiano-Reggiano or Pecorino or both. But what if they had just stuck with eggs, bacon, and pasta? They'd get something like this. Buttery egg yolks, warm bacon fat, and starchy water are more than capable of creating a silky sauce all on their own. And while it's by no means traditional, I like to add a bonus egg on top—crackly-edged and ready to ooze everywhere at the touch of a fork."

List of Ingredients

â—¦ Kosher salt
â—¦ 8 ounces spaghetti
â—¦ 4 thick slices bacon, halved crosswise
â—¦ 3 large eggs
â—¦ Freshly ground black pepper
â—¦ 3 large egg yolks


Recipe

Add 5 cups water to a small pot and bring to a boil. Season with ½ teaspoon salt. Add the spaghetti, encouraging it into the water, and cook for 7 to 8 minutes, until al dente.

Meanwhile, add the bacon to a cast-iron skillet over medium heat. Cook for about 7 minutes, flipping halfway through, until it's as crunchy as you like. Transfer to a plate and pour almost all of the fat into a heatproof measuring cup, leaving about 1 tablespoon in the pan.

With the heat still at medium, crack 2 eggs into the skillet and sprinkle with salt and pepper. Cook until the whites are set but the yolks are still runny. Combine the egg yolks and the remaining egg in a medium heatproof bowl, season with ½ teaspoon pepper, and beat with a fork. While stirring, slowly drizzle in the reserved bacon fat to temper the yolks.

When the spaghetti is almost done, drop the heat to medium-low, and scoop out â…” cup pasta water with the emptied heatproof measuring cup. While stirring, slowly drizzle half of the pasta water into the egg-bacon fat mixture. Use tongs to add the spaghetti.

Set the bowl over the pot. The bowl should be hovering above the simmering water (discard or add water if needed). Use tongs to toss the spaghetti until the sauce becomes creamy and thick enough to cling to the noodles, adding more pasta water to sight. Divide the saucy spaghetti between two plates. Top each with an egg, half the bacon, and more black pepper.

Serves 2