My daughter Maddy is well traveled in Italy and is now fluent in Italian.  This includes being fluent in Italian cooking.  She once offered to make Pasta Carbonara for her Italian friends.  They all laughed when they first tasted Maddy’s cooking, “Questa non è la pasta alla carbonara, questa è la pasta alla Maddy!” …and they pronounced it delicious! I’ll let Maddy describe the recipe in her own words… Ingredienti: •  1 lb spaghetti •  As much bacon or pancetta as you feel necessary •  few bloops of olive oil •  a bloop or two of heavy cream or milk •  1-2 tablespoons butter •  3-4 cloves garlic, peeled and minced •  1-2 tablespoons lemon juice •  lots of Parmesan and Pecorino Romano cheese •  6-8 eggs •  salt and pepper 1.  Cook spaghetti according to package, but make sure it’s al dente! (“at the teeth”) basically, with some bite left. Reserve a half cup or so of pasta water in case you screw up the moisture ratio in the last step. 2.   Fry up that bacon or pancetta, drain lots of the fat, and set aside. Don’t wash the pan! Let it be the same one for step 3. 3.  In a bowl, beat together eggs, cheese, cream/milk, salt, and pepper. I didn’t put measurements for the cheese because it’s more of a texture thing than anything else. Especially if you’re changing the amount of pasta, adjust the egg number accordingly. I would say the ratio is something like 2/3 Pecorino, 1/3 Parmigiano, and when beaten together it should be gritty with cheese, but still loose enough to pour like batter. When in doubt, add more cheese!! You can’t overdo it, really 4.  If using a whole pound of spaghetti, get a big ass sauté pan so you can comfortably toss it with the other ingredients. Heat olive oil and butter, and cook garlic just until fragrant. Bloop some lemon juice in there too and let it sizzle on medium-high heat. 5.  This is where it gets hairy. Turn off the heat on the garlic, and wait until they’re no longer sizzling, but hot enough that water steams off the pan. Dump your al dente spaghetti in the pan, and create a place where you can pour the egg/cheese mixture. Make sure you’re not pouring the egg mixture directly on the pan! The finished product should be silky, and evenly covering all the noodles. Let the heat from the spaghetti cook the eggs, not the pan. If the heat is too high, you’ll have scrambled eggs. If the heat is too low or your spaghetti is cold, you’ll get a raw egg nest of noodles. Stir in the bacon at the last minute, and that’s it!  
Pasta Alla Maddy
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