RCE: Garlic & Sapphires: Spaghetti Carbonara!

Wow, now its Susan's turn to be on a roll - this time taking the plunge and making Spaghetti Carbonara a la Reichl. It sounds really like a very easy workday recipe - and far better than anything Ms. Ray would dream up (Lucas, I'm talkin' to you here! LOL)

Well! I finally did it. Tonight I was rushed, harried, had a houseful of hungry people, and just happened to have in my kitchen a pound of spaghetti, a pound of bacon, some eggs, parmesan and garlic. What else could I do but make the Garlic
& Sapphires Spaghetti Carbonara?

It was fantastic. It was delicious. Everyone loved it, although I suspect my Very Healthy Husband was biting his tongue at the combination of major cholesterol items all on one plate. The kids seemed shocked. My mother said, "Um, where's the sauce?" I answered, "You just made it." (she had been stirring the bacon pieces in the pan) I asked everyone, "Would you eat this again?" I got a resounding YES. (husband was washing the dishes, so he did not get to participate in the vote).

I have a confession to make. I was afraid of this egg business and worried that it would NOT get cooked by the hot pasta, that my pasta just would not be hot ENOUGH, and I would end up with slimey, not quite cooked egg all over my pasta. I added just a teensy bit of half and half to the beaten eggs on the bowl. As if that would somehow help? As if it would cut the degree of horribleness in case the eggs didn't cook? I don't know. So I did cheat a bit. But the eggs did cook, we all ate it with great gusto, and now I have something new and wonderful and EASY to make. Thank you Ruth Reichl, and thank you Eric for the assignment, and thank you Muffin Toppers for encouraging me to go for it.

You're MORE than welcome, Susan, and thank you for demonstrating the entire purpose of Read.Cook.Eat. Trying new things and new ingredients and new techniques that we would have been too nervous to try on our own. And it looks awesome!