Spaghetti carbonara is an ultimate comfort food — cheesy, carby, warm, and delicious. It’s also super simple to make, and is perfect for making a solo dinner or scaling up for a group. You’ll find that you’ll likely have most of the ingredients for this dish on hand, as well, which makes it a perfect weeknight meal.

Spaghetti Carbonara
(Serves two; can be scaled up)

Ingredients
– Two large handfuls of pasta (can be homemade)
– 4 oz. pancetta or bacon, cubed
– 2 garlic cloves, minced
– 1 tbsp butter or olive oil
– 1/2 cup parmesan or pecorino, freshly grated
– 2 eggs
– 2 tbsp fresh parsley, chopped
– Salt and pepper for seasoning

Directions

1. Bring your pasta water to a boil, with a drizzle of olive oil and salt.

2. In a small pan, heat your butter or olive oil over medium heat, and cook pancetta until crisp. Add garlic, and cook one more minute. Once done, remove from heat and place in a large mixing bowl.

3. Beat eggs with half of your grated cheese in a small mixing bowl. Reserve the other half for later.

4. Once your water is boiled, cook pasta until al dente (you want a bit of a bite). Drain your pasta, reserving some pasta water in a small bowl.

5. Quickly toss your warm pasta with the pancetta and garlic mixture in the large bowl. While your pasta is still warm (but not too hot so that it doesn’t curdle your eggs), add your egg mixture, and toss your pasta, coating with the egg mixture until it resembles a lovely cheesy sauce. You may want to add some pasta water if the mixture looks too dry.

6. Before serving, toss with remaining cheese and parsley, and salt and pepper to taste. (I like to add a little more freshly grated cheese and parsley on top once I’ve placed them in bowls). Enjoy with a nice glass of wine and a spring salad!