Carbonara

Carbonara di Como (Bengese)

Ingredients (where X is any positive number)( 500 grams will feed 3-4 missionaries)

100 times X grams - Spaghetti noodles

X eggs (500 grams of pasta is 5 eggs)

Parmesan cheese (grated) or another grated cheese (about 1/4 cup for every 5 eggs)

Ground black pepper

Bacon or cubed ham (to taste, but I do 50 grams per person.) bacon is much better

To cook- follow carefully.

-Separate eggs whites from yolks. The eggs whites in a larger bowl, the yolk in a smaller.

-Add the cheese to the yolk and stir thoroughly, it should be textured. Add pepper to yolks, I usually put a fine layer of paper over the whole surface of the egg mix. (It should be to taste, but pepper is an important flavor.) 

- Whip the egg whites into a froth with beaters. It should take a minute or two. The eggs will settle so whip them again as the bacon and pasta finish cooking if you want.

- Sing merrily while cooking but do not get distracted.

-Boil spaghetti as normal. (Before adding pasta to boiling water, we add salt and a tablespoon of olive oil to the water)

-Chop ham or bacon into pieces (kinda diced), cook the meat fully in a large and deep pan. (If you cook bacon you can break it to pieces after cooking if you want. But it should be hot.)

- If timed correctly the bacon should finish as the pasta does. Strain the pasta and put the fresh noodles into the still-hot bacon frying pan. The pan should be hot enough to cook eggs still.

- You may need a hand to help (but it is possible to do it alone, don't stress), have your daughter or brother or husband or someone stir the pasta into the meat without it leaving the deep pan.

- As the pasta and meat mix in the hot pan, quickly add the cheese yolk pepper mix and keep stirring. Right when the yellow egg thickens or seems cooked or opaque, turn the heat off. This step should only take 1 minute or less, depending on pan heat.

- Immediately add the egg whites and keep stirring for a moment, if you don't have a deep large pan to stir in, then it will take a lot of talent to keep the pasta off the floor and counters.

   If you really don't have a big enough pan (too much food, too small pan, too untalented stirring, etc.) go ahead and transfer it into the dry pot you used for spaghetti and stir the whites in there.

 Serve hot or warm or whatever. Add pepper as needed.