Linguini Carbonara

I discovered this recipe on the internet the other day, and it intrigued me. I am always looking for ways to add protein to our diet (other than meat). So when I saw that this dish contained two eggs, I had to try it. I doctored it up a bit with some ingredients that I had on hand.

Verdict: DELICIOUS!! And oh, so easy. (By the time I thought of posting this to my blog, the kids had already devoured half the bowl. So the picture below looks a little sparse. It really does make more than that.)

LINGUINI CARBONARA

1 lb spaghetti or linguine (or whatever pasta you want)

1/2 lb bacon (I used turkey bacon, but it would be even better with the real thing)

2 cloves garlic, chopped

1 bag spinach (my addition - and a must-have!)

1 lb small scallops (my other addition - yummy, but optional)

2 large eggs, beaten

Black pepper

1/2 cup grated parmesan cheese


Get your water on to boil for your pasta.

Chop up the bacon into pieces, then fry them up. Spoon the cooked bacon into your large serving bowl, leaving the drippings in the pan. In the drippings, saute up your garlic a bit (remember garlic burns easily), then add your spinach and cook it down. Dump that into your serving bowl. Next, saute your scallops (you may need to add a bit of oil if your spinach absorbed all of your bacon grease). Dump the cooked scallops into your serving bowl.

At some point during the above step, your water should have started boiling. So cook your pasta just until done. (There's nothing worse than limp, overcooked pasta. Blech!)

As soon as the pasta is cooked, drain it and then put it straight into your serving bowl. Immediately add your raw beaten eggs and start mixing. The heat from the pasta will cook the eggs. Add the parmesan cheese and mix well.

Serve warm.

My kids LOVED this! Their only request was that I add more spinach next time. I agree.