December 6 - Fettuccine Carbonara

Food funk be damned! I'm sick of feeling blah, so I'm breaking out of it and forcing an upswing in my mood. For ages I've found cooking to be comforting and a great stress-relief, so what better way to beat the blues than by going back to preparing real meals?

I have a pretty exciting list of meals that I grocery shopped for, so there were a bunch I could have made that sounded good (spicy Mongolian beef, Valerie's chicken, jambalaya). I also had a recipe for fettuccine carbonara and all the fixins, so what the hell? It felt like a pasta night anyways.

It turned out so incredibly well, the boy loved it (it had bacon, how could he not?), Linds ate two bowls (alright!), and Luke even took a bite or two before collapsing into hysteria (overtired and ready for bed). I loved it, too, so a hit all around. This was the *perfect* way to get back into the swing of things.

Fettuccine Carbonara
Ingredients
5 teaspoons olive oil
4 shallots, diced
1 large onion, cut into thin strips
1 pound bacon, cut into strips
1 clove garlic, chopped
1 (16 ounce) package fettuccini pasta
3 egg yolks
1 cup heavy cream
3/4 cup shredded Parmesan cheese
salt and pepper to taste

Directions

1. Heat olive oil in a large heavy saucepan over medium heat. Sauté shallots until softened. Stir in onion and bacon, and cook until bacon is evenly browned. Drain grease and then stir in garlic when bacon is about half done. Remove from heat.
2. Bring a large pot of lightly salted water to a boil. Add pasta and cook for 8 to 10 minutes or until al dente. Drain pasta, then return it to the pot.
3. In a medium bowl, whisk together egg yolks, cream, and shredded Parmesan. Pour the bacon mixture over the pasta, then stir in the cream mixture. Season with salt and pepper.