Spaghetti Carbonara

Watching late night Food Channel is a terrible torture. Watching all those delicious food, so simply cooked by celebrity chefs like Jaime Oliver, Nigella Lawson and their peers easily create a desire to run out at 1am to the nearest food centre and indulge in a hot, hot plate of char kway teow to stem the tide of hunger. heh.

That said, watching the ease of chefs in preparing food is also inspiring. You keep thinking - is that all there is to make that? That's so simple!

The following recipe is adapted from David Rocco's cooking series, Dolce Vita. His programme tries to tell as story each episode, as he weaves cooking and good food into daily Italian life.


Spaghetti Carbonara (for One)

Ingredients:
A little Extra Virgin Olive Oil
1 slice Bacon, cut into 1cm x 1cm pieces
100g Spaghetti
1 egg, separated
1/3 cup milk
1/3 cup grated cheddar cheese
Black Pepper

Method:
1. Cook spaghetti in rapidly boiling water.
2. Put egg white, milk, cheddar cheese and lots of black pepper in a bowl.
3. In a saucepan, put a little olive oil to fry the bacon. You may fry a little minced garlic along with the bacon if you wish.
4. When spaghetti is done, add the spaghetti to the bacon in the saucepan, and give it a stir. Immediately, lower the heat and add in the cheese mixture. Stir until the spaghetti is coated with the cheese mixture.
5. Serve the spaghetti with the egg yolk on top, eat immediately. The egg yolk will cook on contact with the hot spaghetti - YUMMY! Garnish or serve with some steamed veggies, like broccoli or french beans.

When cooking for more, just increase the amounts accordingly.

My family loves this, and to me, it's an Italian version of eating dry instant noodles. The ingredients for this are usually found in the fridge. If we don't have bacon at the ready, there's always luncheon meat or sausages.