My selection for this week is Spaghetti Carbonara with bacon. Pancetta is usually the protein of choice for this dish, but we didn’t have pancetta in the house, and we do have an abundance of eggs so there is bacon….therefore, we use what we have an abundance of in true Italian fashion. I cooked the thinly sliced bacon until almost crispy, drained off as much of the bacon grease as I could (into a clean jar for future use) and added the white wine to the bacon to soften it while it reduced. I also had some fresh mozzarella in the fridge…while everything was coming together, I diced a bit of the fresh mozz to toss in with the hot bacon-wine mixture.
Tasting Notes~
One thing about Spaghetti Carbonara is that it is the suave adult equivalent to a child’s mac & cheese. We have long, silky pasta rather than tubular pasta…rather than yellow cheese, we have yellow egg yolks and loads of sophisticated parmesano reggiano and romano instead…generous gratings of freshly cracked pepper only a dulled adult palate could stand…and herbs…mmmm! This is serious comfort food in a bowl, and wonderful food for after being out on the town. It’s also very comforting if you’ve just been burning the candle at both ends at bit much. Do you know anyone who does that?? Yeah… I didn’t think so… *giggle* Seriously… I do love this when I’m particularly tired and it’s been a long day. It’s kind of like breakfast and dinner in one…and I’m ready to tuck in almost immediately! This one is a fall-back recipe I use a lot! Thanks Giuliano…this one is wonderful!
Can't Believe We Ate... 
A big favorite around here…we have had it every Thanksgiving Eve since 1979. (And plenty of other times as well.) Seriously. Calvin Trillan, the author, started it. He said it should be the traditional Thanksgiving dish and tried to make a campaign to get it institutionalized for Americans…lol. He said that the Italians (Chris Columbus) discovered the Americas…when Chris got off the boat he would have ordered fires made to cook up a meal…and he claims it would have been Spaghetti Carbonara because they were Italians, so they would have had onboard pasta, parm cheese, eggs, and smoked bacon or pancetta and a little garlic. All he would have needed was to boil up a kettle of water and make the dish…the first THANKful meal in the Americas by the discovery crew. So, in honor of that, each year we have this for Thanksgiving Eve. Someone has to do it. Yours looks wonderful!