Spaghetti alla Carbonara (without cream)

 
I like my spaghetti carbonara without cream. Somehow, when I eat it with cream, my stomach gets bloated.

An Italian friend taught me how to cook it. As he said, the real Italian way is without cream.

Well, I'm not going into a debate about whether it should contain cream or not. I would say, to each his own.

Ingredients (my way)

4 eggs (ya, I know but I wanted more sauce, so I used 4 eggs but 2 eggs should be enough.)
*1 egg yolk (for more creaminess, you can add an additional egg yolk)
bacon
Parmesan cheese
spaghetti (I use Barilla)
salt (I use Malton sea-salt)
ground black pepper

Serves 2

* you have to add egg yolk or the sauce will be too runny

How much sauce you want, how creamy you want, how much salt and pepper you want, etc is all up to your taste.

1 Boil a large pot of water.

2  Saute the bacon and set aside. You can cut it into strips if you want but I like my bacon in bigger chunks.

3  Always cook your pasta in large amount of rapidly boiling water. Add some salt to the water.

I was being taught this way to put the spaghetti into the boiling water.
You hold your spaghetti in a bunch and lightly twist it - put it in the centre of your pot and let go - the spaghetti will drop in a spiral form. The spaghetti will slowly ease itself into the pot neatly when the bottom softens. Don't try to force the spaghetti into the pot or it will break.

Timing is critical. Pasta is always eaten al dente, which means firm to the bite. I feel that it is better to taste for doneness, several times if necessary instead of just relying on the packet's instruction.

4 Break eggs into bowl and beat it. Season with salt and pepper.

5 As soon as the spaghetti is done, drain it quickly and mix it into the egg mixture. The hot spaghetti will cook the egg mixture  but you have to mix it fast or else your egg mixture might turn into omelette.

6 Mix in the bacon and Parmesan cheese.

That's it!  Serve Immediately.

Buon Appetito!