Pasta Carbonara (after Ruth Reichl's style)
1 lb pasta, thin spaghetti works very well
6-8 cloves garlic, peeled and chopped rough (not fine)
1-2 tsps dried ground thyme
red pepper flakes, to taste
fresh ground black pepper, to taste
3 large eggs
1/2 lb slightly fatty bacon, diced
In a 5 qt pot, or larger, fill 3/4s with water and add 4-5 tsps fresh ground black pepper. Bring to a boil.
While water comes up to temp, put diced bacon in a large skillet on medium heat. Distribute bacon evenly around skillet.
In a large bowl, crack the eggs, add dried thyme and a few grinds of black pepper. Whisk well and let stand.
When water boils, add pasta, boil for 7 minutes or until the consistency you prefer is reached. Meantime, keep turning the bacon in skillet; you don't want crispy, just well-cooked. Add the garlic to the bacon about 3 minutes after putting the pasta in the water.
If all goes well, the pasta and the bacon (KEEP the bacon oil!) will be finished at about the same time. Drain the pasta, pour into the bowl with the egg-thyme mixture. Then, as quickly as possible, add red pepper flakes to taste and pour the diced bacon AND the bacon oil into the bowl. Add a few more grinds of black pepper, then toss rapidly with tongs (the hot pasta and the hot bacon oil cook the eggs, no worries) until well mixed.
Options: sprinkle a good bit of shaved Parmesan cheese before or after mixing, and/or add chopped black olives to the bacon while cooking ('carbonara' means 'burnt' in Italian and black olives, although not burnt themselves, contribute to the concept). Serve immediately after mixing -- have everyone already at the table, fork in hand.
Note: if the bacon looks like there's too much oil (everybody's different on this), drain some off.
Another note: you CAN make this a creamed sauce by (guess what?) adding cream. Don't do it. Reichl doesn't, and I don't either. Nor does Mario Batali, fwiw.
Mangiare bene ed piacere!
Cold snap?!? I'll send you some of our 100 degree weather.