The "Almost anytime pasta"

Pasta Carbonara

9/14/2010

            For my first food blog I decided to write about a food that is special in my home, it is called pasta carbonara.  I come from a large Italian family and, true to form, we eat a lot of pasta.  Pasta carbonara is a different kind of pasta dish that is one of my personal favorites.  This dish has, over the years, become the “birthday pasta”, the “having guests over pasta”, and the “basically any special occasion pasta”.  It is always my request for my birthday dinner with family. 

            Past carbonara has a not altogether, outrageously different taste.  It is simple but perfectly delicious, and always a favorite.  The tastes and the smells of this meal in particular always remind me of my wonderfully loud and energetic family and the laughs and great memories we always have over one of our family dinners.  It also reminds me of the chaos that always seems to center around the kitchen, like the eye of a storm.  The loud clanking of pots and pans, the steam of the boiling hot pastas being strained, the always enticing smell of garlic sizzling in a hot pan of olive oil, and my favorite, the smell of the frying bacon, all of which will contribute to the delicious pasta that tantalizes the taste buds with a variety of wonderful flavors. 

            I remember sitting at the counter and watching my mother and my grandmother while worked together in a flurry of ingredients and utensils to create tasty dish.  Since it was my favorite meal I asked my mother to show me how to make it, and I can still perfectly remember her explaining it to me.  First, you boil and strain the pasta and fry the bacon then while the pasta is still hot you place it in a big bowl.  Then, for every one pound of pasta you crack one raw egg over the steaming noodles and mix it around.  The steam from the pasta cooks the eggs into the noodles.  Next, you take the cooked bacon and sprinkle it over the pasta along with garlic sautéed in olive oil, a little bit of parsley, salt, hot red peppers, and lots and lots of parmesan cheese. 

            Pasta carbonara is possibly one of the easiest pastas to make but it is so delicious and almost always brings back memories of good times with loved ones.