Sunday's delicious dish: Pasta Carbonara

This weekend, Kelly asked me to make him a pasta and bacon dish - pasta carbonara. The last time I made carbonara, I used Ruth Reichl's recipe from "Garlic and Sapphires" which was quite simple and tasty (basically, just pan fry the bacon, pour the hot pasta over raw eggs and add the bacon). But, yesterday, I thought I would amp up the recipe a little by using an edited version of The Pioneer Woman's recipe, which is a little more complicated and involves deglazing the pan and adding copious amounts of butter. (BTW, the Pioneer Woman's site has SO MUCH BETTER pictures of the dish and is one of my favorite "food porn" sites.)

My Pasta Carbonara:

1. Cut up 1 package of bacon into one inch pieces. I used "center cut" bacon.
2. Pan fry the bacon in a stainless steel pot. (I use a sauce pot to try and contain the grease splatters.)
3. Once the bacon is a the desired crispiness (I like it really crispy, practically burnt), strain the bits out with a slotted spoon, but leave all that delicious bacon grease.
4. Dice 1 sweet onion and add it into the bacon grease. Wait a couple minutes and then add 4 cloves of minced garlic.
5. Sautee in the bacon grease until translucent and soft. Strain out the onions/garlic with a slotted spoon.
6. Discard or save for later the used bacon grease. Place the pan back on the stove with the black bits on the bottom and turn up the heat. Once the pan starts smoking, pour in some stock (I used veggie stock, but you can use chicken stock or white wine) and scrape the black bits off the bottom of the pan to deglaze. Once the pan is scraped, then add in another cup of stock to create a both. Add the onions back in and let everything simmer. (The recipe also calls for us to add the bacon back in, which I did, but then realized that this made the deliciously crispy bacon bits get soft again. So, the next time I make it, I would not add the bacon back in at this juncture, so I can keep the bacon crispy.)
7. Meanwhile, boil another pot of salted water for about a pound of pasta. (I used fresh linguine because it was on sale, so I waited for the last minute to cook the pasta.)
8. Crack four eggs into a giant bowl, add about half a cup of Parmesan cheese, a bunch of fresh ground black pepper, and some coarse chopped parsley. Mix together thoroughly.
9. Once the pasta is cooked, drain, and place the hot pasta on top of the raw eggs (the heat of the pasta will cook the eggs). Add the onion broth over the pasta, and also the crumbled bacon (see how this will keep the bacon crispy?). Also add a bit of butter to bring it all together. With a big pair of tongs, mix everything together. Top with more cheese and parsley. Serve immediately.

Ample amount to serve at least four. Buon Appetito!