Spaghetti Alla Carbonara

Tonight I made a traditional Italian dish for my friend who recently had a baby. The best things about this recipe are that it is SUPER easy to make and most people have most of the ingredients on hand. Apparently my friend and her husband (and their 3 year old son) thoroughly enjoyed it. So I decided to share the "oh so easy" recipe. (-:

Spaghetti Alla Carbonara

Ingredients:

1 lb box of spaghetti1/2 lb bacon (or pancetta....it was traditionally prepared with guanciale, but we DEFINITELY can't find that one in our little one horse town)
5 egg yolks
1 1/2 cups Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese
3-4 Tbsp EV Olive Oil
Salt and Pepper to taste

Directions:

Cook spaghetti according to directions.Meanwhile, cut up bacon into smallish pieces and pan fry them in the olive oil (heat the olive oil in your skillet first). You want crispy pieces....they'll get bogged down with the sauce later on.
When your pasta is done cooking, put about 1/2 cup of the pasta water in with your egg yolks and beat with a fork. Add pepper (about 1/2 teaspoon) and a cup of cheese into your egg yolks.

Add the bacon (grease and all) to your pasta and mix to coat. Immediately add the egg yolk mixture to the pasta and mix. The heat of the pasta will cook the egg yolks. Add salt to taste. Dress with some chopped, flat leaf parsley and the remainder of the cheese.

That's it! You're done! And you end up with an amazing Italian dish!

Three-Ingredient Meatballs

I've come to realize that not everyone knows this recipe. I usually just assume it's the one that everyone uses because it's so darn easy. However, it never fails that when I take my meatballs somewhere, people comment and want the recipe....and I laugh.

Here's the recipe for Three-Ingredient Meatballs:

Mix one bottle of chili sauce and one small jar of grape jelly over medium heat. Whisk until smooth. Put a couple pounds of frozen meatballs (sometimes I DO make my own....but for simplicity's sake, we'll stick with frozen) into the slow cooker. Pour sauce over meatballs. Turn slow cooker on low for 2-5 hours. Voila! You're done!

Now, if you like spicy foods and want to try something a bit more challenging, try this recipe:

Chili Lime Meatballs (adapted from a Pampered Chef recipe)

Glaze:

1/2 cup + 1tbs brown sugar

1/2 cup soy sauce

1ts fresh grated ginger

1/2 tbs sesame seed oil

3 large cloves garlic pressed

2 tsp Thai red curry paste

2 tbs lime juice

Just put all the ingredients in a sauce pan and simmer till it thickens, about 15-20 min.

Meatballs:

1lb lean ground beef

1/4 plain dried bread crumbs

1 egg

2 tsp Thai red curry paste

2 green onions sliced

lime wedges [optional for a fresh squirt after or for garnish]

Combine all ingredients, then make your meatballs, it makes about 40 small sized ones. Cook over med high heat with a bit of canola oil, until browned. Make sure to turn so all sides brown up. You can serve two ways, pouring glaze on meatballs when on plate or use glaze as a dipping side....I've done both depending on if it's an appetizer or main dish.