Tuesday, November 3, 2009

Pasta with Eggs and Bacon (take 2)

I decided to give this recipe one more try because even though I wasn't super impressed the first time, my daughter loved it. I made a few changes this time. I used cellentani pasta instead of spaghetti, added some red pepper flakes in with the bacon and used a little mozzarella with a large handful of asiago and shredded parmesan cheese to give it more sharpness.

Today's version was much tastier. This will definitely be added to my quick and easy meal list.


INGREDIENTS
1/4 teaspoon kosher salt, plus more for the pasta pot
2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
2 tablespoons butter
8 ounces slab or thick-cut bacon, cut in 1/2 -inch pieces
5 large eggs
1 batch (1 1/2 pounds) fresh cavatelli (recipe below) or 1 pound dried pasta
(I used cellentani)
2 cups shredded Fontina Val d’Aosta (I substituted an Mozzarella, Asiago and Parmesan)

DIRECTIONS
Fill the large pot with salted water (at least 6 quarts water with 1 tablespoon salt), and heat to a boil.

Pour the olive oil into the skillet, and set it over medium-high heat. Drop in the butter, let it melt, then scatter in the bacon pieces. Cook the bacon, stirring and tossing the pieces, for 5 minutes or so, until they’re crisp and caramelized. (If the bacon rendered lots of fat, you can pour off half the fat in the pan.)

Beat the eggs and 1/4 teaspoon salt in a bowl until well blended.

When the water is at a rolling boil, drop in the cavatelli, stir, and return the water to a boil. Cook the cavatelli 4 to 5 minutes, until al dente. Lift them from the pot, drain briefly and spill them into the skillet.

Over medium heat, toss the cavatelli with the bacon pieces, coating the pasta with the oil, butter and bacon fat, too. Pour the beaten eggs all over the pasta, stirring and tumbling them together; keep scraping the coagulating egg from the sides and bottom of the pan, and incorporate it in with the wet eggs. Cook for a minute or two, just until all the egg is lightly cooked and custardy and evenly scrambled into the cavatelli.

Turn off the heat, scatter the shredded Fontina over the eggs and pasta, and toss thoroughly to blend in the cheese as it melts.

Serve immediately.

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