Carbonara For One

by LimeCake on March 22, 2010

Today was one of those Mondays where I get home from work and I’m tired and hungry. My lunch was a measly PB&J. Obviously, cooking a quick dinner was pretty much all I could fathom. And, with a bare fridge, the answer to my prayers was Pasta Carbonara. I used speck, but you really could use any cured/smoked meat, such as bacon, chorizo, cinghiale, prosciutto…

You really don’t need many ingredients and this comes together in less than 10 minutes. Cooking for one is nice once in a while, especially when you’ve got a warm plate of Carbonara at the end of a long day. Nothing could be more satisfying.

On a side note: this is probably unorthodox, but I sprinkled a few drops of Tabasco on the finished pasta, because even though I added chilli flakes in the cooking process, I really like the tangy heat from the Tabasco, which cuts through the richness of the pasta.

Pasta Carbonara

serves 1

Linguine (or any long pasta of choice)

Speck (or any cured/smoked meat), chopped

1 or 2 cloves garlic, sliced

1 egg, lightly beaten

Parmesan or other hard cheese, grated

Pepper

Chilli flakes (optional)

Cook your pasta in salted, boiling water. Al dente, please.
In pan on medium heat, fry the meat till slightly golden (1-2 minutes), then add garlic. If using chilli flakes, stir them in now.
If you’ve timed this right, the pasta will just be cooked and be ready for the meat in the pan. Remove everything from heat.
Transfer pasta straight into pan. Immediately pour in egg, cheese and a little of the pasta water.
Stir, stir, stir, adding a little more pasta water if it starts looking dry. Season with pepper.
Dish up immediately and enjoy!