Shrimp and Bacon Carbonara

I've always been a fan of carbonara in restaurants, but for whatever reason, I'd never tried making it at home! To me it sounded 'fancy' which, in my brain, translated to 'complicated'. That thinking, could not be further from the truth! If you can make spaghetti, you can make carbonara!

Below is a recipe the hubby and I came up with after testing out a few different versions. This is definitely a favourite dish of ours - not only is it super yummy, but it's also very easy, quick to make, AND there are always tonnes of leftovers!

PS the leftovers taste just as good!



Ingredients:

• 10 slices of Bacon, chopped
• 1 box of Spaghetti (1lb)
• 1 lb uncooked, de-veined, Shrimp 
• 1 Onion, chopped
• 1 tsp Garlic, minced
• 4 Eggs, beaten
• 1/2 cup Parmesan Cheese (and then some for garnishing)
• Salt & Pepper, to taste

Instructions:

1) First things first, get you water boiling for your spaghetti - this always seems to take so long, and can really mess up your timing if you forget until the 'add pasta' step. Be sure to prepare your spaghetti aldente, then drain and set aside until needed.

2) Next, fry bacon on medium heat. Once cooked, set aside.

3) Add your onion and garlic to bacon drippings, sprinkle on some salt and pepper, then saute until tender.
 Note: If you have really fatty bacon, you can remove some fat before adding the onions.

4) Add shrimp and saute until fully cooked and pink. Reduce the heat to just below medium (about 4) and add in your spaghetti, mixing remaining drippings and seasoning into the pasta.

5) Next beat your eggs and add them to the pasta. Be sure to continuously work the pasta with the eggs until it starts to have a glazed appearance.   
Note: Be warned, if your heat is too high, you will end up with a dried-on mess of eggs on the base of your pan... not that it happened to me the first time I made it...

6) Finally, add the Parmesan cheese and mix with your tongs until fully combined. Plate it up and garnish with some additional Parmesan and some fresh (or dried) parsley to really fancy it up! :)

Make it rain!

And voila! There you have it. Easy - Fast - Tasty. Nothing complicated about it! ;)