Linguine carbonara

linguine carbonara
Originally uploaded by Siddity.

As comfort food goes, there's nothing quite like pasta. It's an incredible vehicle for the comforting tastes we crave: fat, salt.

Needing a bit of comfort, I reached for the spaghetti carbonara recipe I'd found in Ruth Reichl's memoir, Garlic and Sapphires, and made a few mods: linguine in place of spaghetti, extra bacon, the addition of asparagus. Start to finish, with interruptions and no concept of mise en place, this meal took about 40 minutes to prepare, and about three to inhale.

Ingredients:
2/3 lb fresh linguine
2/3 lb bacon, chopped into 1/2"-3/4" bits
1 lb asparagus, cut into 1"-1 1/2" spears
2 eggs, beaten
2 cloves garlic
1/2 c. grated parmegiano reggiano, grated
salt and pepper to taste

According to Reichl, the pasta should come first, but since I used fresh instead of dried, I actually prepped that last.

Cook bacon for 2 minutes. Add garlic, peeled and coarsely slivered. Cook until bacon is just crisp around edges--not fully crisp. Turn off heat.Quickly steam asparagus and remove from heat when bright green. Set aside. Beat eggs in a large mixing dish, and add pepper. Set aside. Boil pasta in salted water, about 3 minutes (10 if using dried pasta). Drain pasta and dump immediately into beaten eggs. Mix. The heat of the pasta will cause eggs to cook into a sauce. Add bacon, with fat and garlic, to egg and pasta mixture. Toss. Add asparagus. Toss. Finally, add grated cheese and toss one last time. You're done!

Serves about four.