Bacon and Egg Farfalle

Number of servings: 4
Estimated Prep Time: 15 minutes
Estimated Cooking Time: 30 minutes

Ingredients

4 tablespoons Oil

2 Onions (large)

1 Red Chile (small, mild)

2 cloves Garlic

1/2 pound Smoked Bacon

1 pound Farfalle

3 Egg Yolk

1/2 cup Parmesan Cheese (grated)

1 cup Peas (frozen)

Comments

Farfalle are those pasta that are shaped like bow ties (or butterflies, if you prefer). Substitute any shaped pasta.

Instead of peas, you could try corn kernels, chopped green beans or asparagus, or omit.

Instead of a fresh red chile, you can use red pepper flakes.

Yes, the more clever amongst you will have noticed that this is a take on Pasta Carbonara.

1/2 cup grated Parmesan cheese is 2 oz / 50g.

1 cup of frozen peas is 100g / 4 oz of frozen peas.

Directions

Peel and finely chop the onions; set aside.

Peel and chop the garlic; set aside.

Wash the chile; remove the seeds and white pith; chop finely and add to the set-aside garlic.

Chop the bacon roughly; add to the set aside garlic and chile.

Zap the peas with a bit of water in the microwave until just cooked -- about 6 minutes. Drain, set aside.

Put a generous pot of salted water on to boil.

Heat the oil in a large frying pan, then add the onion and cook over medium-low heat until starting to get soft -- about 10 minutes.

By this time, the water should be ready for the pasta. Pop it in, and cook until tender to the bite -- about 10 to 12 minutes.

Once you've got the pasta in, add the garlic, bacon and chile to the onions. Crank up the heat to medium and cook until the bacon is cooked -- this should be about 10 minutes, roughly the same amount of time until when your pasta is done as well.

Now that the pasta and bacon are on cooking, get the egg yolks into a very large bowl, along with the Parmesan. Stir them together.

When the bacon and onion pan has almost had its time, stir in the peas, cook for another minute or two, then tip the contents of the frying pan into the large bowl where the egg and cheese are, and stir to mix everything.

Take out a cup or so of water from the pasta pan, set it aside, then drain the pasta, and tip it into the large bowl with the bacon and egg mixture. Stir it all together, making it saucier by adding as much of the reserved pasta water as you feel like.

Serve hot.