“I’ll have the smiley face breakfast special.  Uhh, but could you add a bacon nose?  Plus bacon hair, bacon moustache, five-o’clock shadow made of bacon bits, and a bacon body.” -Homer Simpson, endlessly quotable, lovable, dense (yet strangely wise and prolific) father to one of the greatest television families of all time, The Simpsons.

There’s no question that this is one of my absolute favorite dishes from childhood.  Much to my delight, my mom made this for us rather frequently, and to this day I haven’t tired of it.  In fact, if I see it on a menu, I almost always order it.  When I got to college, it was one of the first things I taught myself to make at home because I knew I wouldn’t be able to live without at least a semi-regular indulgence.  (Plus the cost of ingredients make it very college student-friendly – an extra bonus!)  What are the magical ingredients that make this dish so thoroughly cost-effective, comforting, and addictive, you ask?  Why, bacon, egg, pasta, and cheese, of course!  Need I say more?  Didn’t think so.  And for an extra super-bonus, you can make it in less than 20 minutes.

This isn’t my Mother’s recipe.  This is the recipe my Mother inspired in me.  My Mom flagrantly Americanized this dish, probably out of necessity as supermarkets in Indiana circa the early 1980′s simply didn’t carry the proper Italian ingredients.  (Don’t worry Mom, your version was awesome.)  She made hers with bacon, as I have here, but usually I make mine with pancetta.  The choice is yours.  I’m also a self-professed fresh herb addict, so much so that it’s gotten to the point where I just don’t think food looks or tastes right without little flecks of green.  As such, I’ve added some flat-leaf parsley to the dish.  There are other differences too but I won’t bore you with them… I want to hurry up and get to the eating part anyway, because I can’t type and salivate at the same time!    So here we go:

Ingredients:

1 lb. package of spaghetti (I always use De Cecco brand when making any recipe using store-bought pasta, just like my father always did before me.  It truly has the best flavor and texture of all commercial pastas I know of, and our family has always insisted on this brand.)

1/2″ thick piece of pancetta cut into approximately 1/4″ cubes, or 3-4 strips of thick-cut bacon, cut into lardons (look at me go with the culinary school vocab!)  (NOTE:  It is much easier to cut pancetta or bacon evenly if you place it in the freezer for a about 10-15 minutes before cutting.  Trust me.  Also, a note to let our readers know that we used Schaller & Weber Slab Bacon.  Schaller & Weber is a New York City institution, and let me tell you, their bacon is AMAZING!!!)

1/4 cup Italian white wine (something you are willing to drink, please!)  (We used 2008 Cantina Gabriele Pinot Grigio, and by the way, thought that for the price, it was a great table pinot grigio to drink!)

3 egg yolks (you can reserve the whites for breakfast the next morning)

1 tsp. Extra-virgin olive oil

2/3 cup freshly grated Parmigiano Reggiano cheese

1/4 cup freshly grated Pecorino Romano cheese

Large handful of parsley leaves, chopped

Kosher salt & freshly ground black pepper

Instructions:

1.  Bring a large stockpot full of water to a rapid boil.  While waiting for water to come to a boil, prepare the other ingredients.

2.  In a mixing bowl, combine the egg yolks, grated cheeses, the olive oil, about a teaspoon of kosher salt, and several grinds of freshly ground black pepper.  Whisk together with a fork quickly.  You don’t want to beat it to death, just until you create a smooth mixture.  You are looking for the consistency of thick cake batter.  If necessary, add a small amount of water at a time until this consistency is achieved.  Set aside.  (NOTE:  I like this dish extra peppery, so I go heavy on the black pepper, but I usually wait until it’s done, and then I do a few extra grinds on top.  There’s just something about Italian cheese and black pepper.  Seriously.)

3.  Put a small amount of oil in a frying pan (we’re talking less than a tablespoon here people…), and with a ball of paper towel, spread the oil out over the surface of the pan so the entire thing is coated in a thin layer.  Put pan over medium high heat .  When the pan is hot, add the bacon lardons and turn the flame down to medium-medium-low.  Make sure the lardons are in a single layer.  The idea here is to render (melt) the fat, not sear it, so you want to cook semi-slowly.  Turn the lardons every few minutes with a rubber spatula until a nice color is achieved on the lardons and some brown caramelized bits begin to accumulate in the bottom of the pan.  At this stage, add the white wine and scrape the bits off of the bottom with the spatula.  Simmer the bacon and wine at low heat until liquid is reduced by about half.  Turn off burner but leave pan where it is to keep warm.

4.  When pasta water is at a rapid boil, add a good handful of kosher salt to the boiling water.  Drop in the spaghetti and cook al dente, or according to package directions.  Drain pasta when cooked and place in large serving bowl.

5.  Add egg yolk/cheese mixture and bacon/wine mixture to pasta and incorporate with tongs.  Taste and adjust seasonings if necessary.  Sprinkle the chopped parsley over the pasta and incorporate with tongs.  Lift portions into large shallow bowls, garnish with a sprig of parsley, and serve.

Yield: About 4 hearty portions of mmmmmm…….bacon goodness

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