Tuesday, March 31, 2009

More Farmers Market Meals

photo courtesy of yum sugar

Who knew a few simple ingredients like eggs, bacon, and bread from the farmers market would bring me such joy. I was at one of the booths to pick up some ground pork and overheard what looked like a market regular saying "they have the best bacon". Well twist my arm. I grabbed a package too.
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I've been craving lots of carbs this pregnancy and nothing sounded better than some super fattening spaghetti carbonara with bacon. YUM! I'm not a big pancetta fan (I know, I know, what's wrong with me?) but bring on the bacon! I've always heard that Tom "Crazy" Cruise has a good recipe for carbonara and you can't go wrong with Giada so I read over both of their recipes and came up with my own variation. It turned out great.
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Spaghetti Carbonara

1-2 T olive oil
1/2 yellow onion, chopped
4 cloves garlic, minced
10 slices bacon
4 eggs
1/4 cup heavy cream
3/4 lb spaghetti
1 1/2 cups grated Parmesan cheese
1 T parsley, minced
salt & freshly ground pepper

Preheat oven to 400 degrees.

Place a baking wire rack on a sheet pan and arrange the bacon on the rack in a single layer. Bake for 15 to 25 minutes, until the bacon is browned and crisp. Drain on paper towels and let cool until they are easy to handle. Chop bacon into small 1/2" pieces.

Heat olive oil in a large pan over medium heat. Saute onion until almost fully cooked. Add garlic and saute for a few more minutes. Stir in bacon and continue to cook on low heat.

In a medium bowl, beat the eggs and cream. Season with salt and pepper. Stir in 1/2 cup Parmesan.

Cook spaghetti in a large pot of boiling salted water until al dente (time depends on brand so check package).

Drain pasta in a colander. Do not rinse with water; you want to retain the pasta's natural starches so that the sauce will stick. Quickly pour the pasta into the pan with onion, garlic and bacon. Immediately add the egg and cream mixture and coat the pasta completely. It's important to work quickly while the pasta is still warm so that the cream mixture will cook, but not curdle. Add another 1/2 cup Parmesan and chopped parsley. Season with salt and pepper and toss well.

Side Dishes

I served the pasta with garlic crostinis (my pasta side of choice) and an arugula salad (fresh arugula is also at the market right now). To make a quick arugula salad, I just toss it with olive oil, lemon juice, a touch of pepper and some freshly shaved Parmigiano-Reggiano.

Leftover Goodies from the Market

I used leftover bacon, eggs and baguette for breakfast the next morning. It was a delicious breakfast. And the lady was right, it is some damn good bacon!
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Seattlites venturing to the Ballard Farmers Market, here's where I got the goods:

Bacon from Skagit River Ranch
Baguette from Tall Grass Bakery

1 comment:

Hiit said...

mmmm tasty!!
Great post thank you for publishing it