Thursday, September 23, 2010

Airborne Ranger Spaghetti alla Carbonara

First of all...please excuse my lack of visitation to many of your blogs. I really do enjoy reading them and try and keep up via Google Reader. But it's been uber hectic.

We are about to be all on our own……….our son has joined the Army and will be off to basic training by March of 2011. He went to MEPS (Military Entrance Processing Station) in Jacksonville Florida on Monday and came back Tuesday with his official contract. All went well at MEPS – passing his physical and getting paperwork done, choosing a career path. Very exciting stuff! After basic training, Tristan will be in the Airborne Rangers out of Ft Benning Georgia.



At least that is fairly close to Squirrel Head manor and we can easily make the drive for visits. But that is in the near future and he’s concentrating on working out with his sergeant from now until his ship off date. That means lots of running, lots of pushups, lots of crunches and lots of sore muscles.



Whadaya need to boost your energy for all this physical torture …umm, I meant preparation. You need carbs!

This meal is dedicated to my airborne bound son.

Pasta alla Carbonara, an adaptation from Williams-Sonoma.



Ingredients:

2 eggs, at room temperature
1/2 cup grated Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese
Salt, to taste
1 lb. fresh linguine
1/4 cup extra-virgin olive oil
1/4-lb. bacon, cut into small cubes
2 garlic cloves, very thinly sliced
1/2 cup dry white wine
Coarsely ground pepper, to taste

Lets cook!

Break the eggs into a warmed large, shallow bowl, add cheese and whisk to blend well. Set aside.

Bring a large pot of water to a boil over high heat. Generously salt the boiling water, add linguine and cook to your desired doneness.

In a large fry pan over medium heat, warm the olive oil. Add the bacon and sauté until just starting to become crisp. Now add the garlic and sauté for 1 minute. Add the wine and cook until reduced by half.

Drain the pasta, leaving a bit of water clinging to it, and add it to the bowl with the eggs and cheese. Toss it quickly !(this will leave a lovely coating of egg on the strand of pasta). Add the bacon and pan juices. Season with salt and a generous amount of pepper. Add the parsley and toss again.
Serve immediately.



Enjoy!

24 comments:

  1. Good luck to Tristan! A lot of changes are heading his way, but I'm sure he'll do great.

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  2. Good luck Tristan. Nice looking hat!

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  3. Tina, the best of luck to Tristan! You must be so very proud. And I'm sure there is not a blogger around who can't relate to not being able to visit as many blogs as we want. Life gets in the way and that's okay. :o) I could use some of your spaghetti alla carbonara right now. I have all the ingredients right here but it's almost 10:00 p.m. Please come make it for me.............

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  4. Congratulations Tina! You must be so proud! :) Heck, I'm proud of your son and I don't even know him! Good luck to Tristan with getting in shape and good luck to Mom and Dad for a quick recovery from empty nest syndrome!

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  5. Congratulations Tina! I know that you must be really proud! I know that Tristan will do very well, but I bet he will miss your cooking:)After all, isn't carbonara about as good as it gets? Great meal to dedicate to him.

    P.S. Don't sweat making rounds on the blogs. I'm having a hard time with that too. Enjoy your time with Tristan.

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  6. Good Luck to your son in his new path. Now, this is something I wouldn't be able to do. All this physical exercise just isn't for me. I am more of a sit in a chair person, enjoy a cocktail, speak to people. At school I always tried to find excuses to avoid gymnastics. Now on the other hand carbonara yes this is the right thing for me, definitely.

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  7. Good luck to your son; I can only imagine what you are feeling.

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  8. Airborne Rangers, that's fantastic ... best wishes for a great career - like your carbonara, looks much easier than the one I have made. I think I make a sauce then blend it together, yours is simply a toss together meal, I like that...

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  9. Congrats!! I know you are so proud! Your recipe looks delicious too. Have a wonderful weekend! :-)

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  10. Good for him - lots of changes! And just what he needs gorgeous pasta. Heston Blumenthal has a good pea and pancetta spaghetti recipe on an advert for Waitrose at the moment - delicious.

    http://www.waitrose.com/recipe/Heston%27s_Pea_and_pancetta_spaghetti.aspx

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  11. I can't believe in all of this talking about training with your son, I totally forgot to say congrats to him! What he's doing is so awesome and takes a lot of guts and dedication.

    And it takes a lot of calories also. He needs to carb load while he can and this seems like a delicious way to do so!

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  12. this is one of my fave pasta dishes in the world...real comfort food and so delicious!!

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  13. Thank you VERY much to all of you and for your wonderful comments. Yes, we are a mixture of pride, concern, worry and hoping it all works out for him as planned. Because this is what he wants to do.

    Jo, I will check out your link, you ought to start blogging again!

    I am off to visit erveryone now :-)

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  14. Another gorgeous pasta dish...darnit, I've got to go eat some breakfast!! Enjoy the empty nest ;)

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  15. Best wishes for your son...and this is a wonderful dish :)

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