Saturday Corned Beef, Eggs And Carbonara

Saturdays are good days for a brunch. After the long week of early mornings, it's nice to have a day to just sleep in with no alarms!! Most Saturdays, this is what we do, and today was no exception. So when we all finally head down to the kitchen, we're pretty hungry! I like to make a meal that fills us up, and gives us time to spend together as a family around the table. Thus, my corned beef, eggs and carbonara choice for today's brunch! 

However, lest you should think I spent lots of time in the meal preparation, the corned beef was left over from dinner 2 nights ago, and the carbonara was left over from lunch the other day. (You can find my recipe for making delicious carbonara here.) I cooked 2 batches of what you see in the fry pan. All in all, it was a super tasty, super quick meal that fit the bill perfectly!

Carbonara ~ Italian Pasta Dish

Despite the fact that I'm half Italian, I'd never eaten or made Carbonara until I was in my mid-30's! The first recipe I tried was Rachel Ray's, and it was certainly "delish" as she would say. Since then, I've tweaked the recipe to make it a few different ways, and my family loves it no matter which way I dish it up. So, here's my latest version of Carbonara:

 Begin by sauteing about 1/2 c. chopped onions and a couple cloves of garlic, sliced, in a generous amount of butter in a large, deep frying pan. Add in a nice handful of bacon bits. When the garlic begins to turn lightly golden, add a bit more butter and sprinkle about 1/4 c. flour over the onions and garlic. Stir to coat, and let flour dissolve so it begins to resemble a paste. Add approx. 1 to 1 1/2 c. of milk, and stir with a whisk to incorporate flour paste into milk, allowing it to thicken the milk as it heats up. If cream mixture is too thick, add more milk until cream is loose enough to your liking. Salt and pepper to taste. Put on lowest setting and stir periodically. Then:

Get a pot of spaghetti boiling in salted water, cooking enough for 2-3 people. When al dente, drain in strainer, and pour pasta into frying pan with cream mixture. Then:

 Toss thoroughly to coat spaghetti well. Dish up, sprinkle with a generous amount of parmesean cheese and enjoy! This is such a nice change sometimes from the usual pasta and red sauce. But don't just take my word for it, let me know what you think!