Sophie’s Spaghetti Carbonara

Spaghetti carbonara is such a great dish when made fresh. It’s perfect for all lovers of pasta and cheese. Enough said.

This dish can be a simple thing you rustle-up on a busy week night after the gym, or pimp it up into more of a gourmet dish at the weekend if you’re having mates round. It all depends on your situation. Choosing a shop-bought garlic flat bread saves time during the week, but, you can really go all-out at the weekend by home-making a garlic bread and serving with a classy bottle of white wine, like a crisp and zesty sauvignon blanc (www.nakedwines.com have a great selection).

This recipe serves 2 and takes about 30 minutes.

What you need:

• 40g finely grated parmesan cheese + a small handful each to serve
• 30g finely grated cheddar cheese
• 3 large free-range eggs
• 200g spaghetti
• 3 tbsp olive oil
• 100g frozen petits pois
• 8 rashers of good quality, smoked streaky bacon (snipped into small pieces)
• 2 cloves garlic (leave whole with the skin on, but crush them slightly with a flat blade)
• sea salt and freshly ground black pepper
• handful of finely chopped parsley

What to do:

1. Warm up your best pasta bowls.
2. Bring a large saucepan of water to the boil, add a good lug of olive oil and a pinch of sea salt.
3. Lightly beat the eggs in a bowl and mix in the grated cheeses. Add good grinding of black pepper and set aside.
4. Put the spaghetti in the large saucepan of boiling water, simmer for 10 minutes, or to the packet instructions. Just don’t overcook it as it cooks a little later on too.
5. While the spaghetti’s simmering, heat the olive oil in a large, deep frying pan. Add the smoked bacon and the two crushed whole garlic cloves, and gently fry on a medium heat until the bacon starts turn golden brown. Add the frozen petits pois so they defrost and warm through.
6. When the spaghetti is ready, drain it but SAVE SOME OF THE WATER.
7. Add the drained pasta to the frying pan with the garlic, bacon and petits pois and turn the heat to low. Give it all a good mix and add a splash of the still-hot pasta water. Make sure everything’s nice and warm.
8. Next, pour the egg and cheese mixture into the pan, using a pair of tongs to lift and stir all of the ingredients together, making sure the spaghetti is evenly coated. Turn the heat off and add an extra dash of the hot pasta water if necessary. This helps create a light sauce, and ensures the spaghetti is evenly coated with the eggy, cheesy goodness!
9. To plate, simply lift and twist the spaghetti mixture into your pre-warmed pasta bowls using the tongs.
10. Sprinkle on the extra cheese, chopped parsley and some freshly ground black pepper to serve. Yummmmmmm.