Skillet^®

Black Pepper Bacon Jam Carbonara

Serving Size: 2-3

Ingredients:

1 pound dry spaghetti
2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
¾ cup Fennel & Black Pepper Bacon Spread
4 garlic cloves; finely chopped
2 large eggs
1 cup freshly grated Parmigiano-Reggiano, plus more for serving
freshly ground black pepper
1 handful fresh flat leaf parsley, chopped

Instructions:

Beat the eggs and Parmesan together in a mixing bowl, stirring well to prevent lumps. Set aside. Meanwhile, heat the olive oil in a deep skillet over medium flame. Add the bacon jam and sauté for about 1 minute, until the fat is rendered. Toss the garlic into the bacon jam and sauté for less than 1 minute to soften. Remove from heat. Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil, add the pasta and cook for 8 to 10 minutes or until tender yet firm (as they say in Italian “al dente”.) Drain the pasta well, reserving ½ cup of the starchy cooking water to use in the sauce if you wish. Add the hot, drained spaghetti to the garlic and bacon jam pan, toss for 2 minutes to coat the strands in the bacon fat. Remove the pan from the heat and pour the egg/cheese mixture into the pasta, mix quickly until the eggs thicken but do not scramble (this is done off the heat to ensure this does not happen.) Thin out the sauce with a bit of the reserved pasta water, until it reaches the desired consistency. Season the carbonara with several turns of freshly ground black pepper and taste for salt. Mound the spaghetti carbonara into warm serving bowls and garnish with chopped parsley.