Spaghetti carbonara, *happy sigh*. This is a dish I like a lot. Paulus does, too, but then he never met a pasta dish that he didn’t like. Every once in a while, I’ll forget about the existence of spaghetti carbonara, and then get really happy when I remember again. Needless to say we make it a lot in our house – and not just me.

I learned how to make this by watching one of our Italian friends who is an excellent pasta cook. It should be very simple – spaghetti, pancetta, egg, and cracked black pepper. And possibly peas, although that seems to be a matter of some dispute. I also like to add a little bit of parsley, just to have something vibrant to break up the otherwise predominantly rich, fatty, and salty mouthfuls.

On a weekend day when Paulus wasn’t at home for lunch, I made spaghetti carbonara for myself. I took full advantage of his absence and added a bunch of peas and parsley.

I started by frying up small pieces of bacon (we never have pancetta…) and boiling some dried, whole wheat spaghetti. When the bacon was nearly ready, I tosssed frozed peas into the pan with it and let them cook for a few minutes, until they were thawed. When the spaghetti was cooked, I mixed it in with the bacon and peas. Then I let the whole thing cool for a minute, while I whisked an egg to mix the white with the yolk. Finally, I poured the egg mixture into the dish while stirring. And then I kept stirring until the egg had set enough to form a thin layer of creamy sauce on the other ingredients. I garnished with parsley and lots of cracked black pepper, and then set abut enjoying my efforts.