Tuesday, January 25, 2011

Pasta Carbonara (my version)

When I finished college, I got a job at a little Italian restaurant. I worked back in the kitchen and usually prepped all the fresh ingredients for sauces and what not. It was not a great job but I walked away with some knowledge of the restaurant business and Italian food.
One task I had was prepping the onions, green peppers and bacon to be fried for Pasta Carbonara. Being that I didn't assemble the actual dish, I had no idea they topped the entire thing with Alfredo sauce. When I can't remember what the name of this dish is - I head to the internet and am amazed by all the eggs and cream and what not that goes in this dish.
I am not so naive as to say this is a low fat version but it has to be lower than the normal versions.
This particular dish is our quick and easy go to. Great for unexpected company or any other occasion.

Ingredients:
1 pound spaghetti or capellini noodles
butter or olive oil
1/2 pound bacon, chopped (I use kitchen shears to cut up the bacon)
1 onion, chopped
2 green peppers, chopped

Boil water and add the noodles (cook according to package). Fry bacon until starting to crisp. Add onions and let cook until translucent. Add green peppers and cook until tender and onions/bacon are crisp. Drain noodles and add butter or oil (I usually use about 1/2 stick of butter but you can cut back because the sauce is oily).
Top noodles with bacon mix. In this case, a little goes a long way and don't let anyone top the noodles with too much "sauce". The sauce should equal about 1/3 of the noodles.
Feel free to top with parmesan cheese.
I, sometimes, omit the peppers or use frozen ones and it comes out great. The more veggies you use will help stretch the dish.
Serves about 6 (or my family of 3).

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