Penne con Pancetta (Noodles with Bacon)

This is one of my first dishes I discovered that helped me understand how much I love cooking. It is very easy to make (though it does take a little while), and the results will blow people away! If anyone ever doubted your abilities as a cook, whip this dish out and silence them.

Food You Need:
1 - Box of Favorite Pasta (I prefer penne, but anything plain works, ravioli is no good)
1 - Package of Bacon
1 - White Onion (optional but recommended)
2 - Eggs
1 - Tub of Parmasian Cheese (I recommend splurging for the shredded in the tub, its worth it)
1 - Can of Chicken Broth (You can make your own with bullion cubes if needed)

Cookware You Need:
1 - Pot large enough to cook your pasta
1 - Wok or deep frying pan
1 - Lid to cover the wok/frying pan
1 - Sharp butchers/kitchen knife
1 - Cutting board
1 - Large wooden spoon/spatchula
1 - Strainer or Siv

Total Cost: $11
Total Time: 35 minutes
Serves: 3-4 in proportions descibed here
Left overs: Still good, but not nearly as good as fresh


To Get Started:
Start by boiling a large amount of water for your pasta in your large pan, and place your wok on medium heat so it is hot and ready to go after the next step.

While your wok heats up, take our your bacon, usually about half to 3/4 of the package, and begin to chop it up into little quarter size pieces. I find this is easiest when you cut through about 4 stips of bacon at a time. Be VERY careful though, using a dull knife or becoming frustrated with how elastic the bacon is can result in cut fingers. Take your time, be smart.

Once you have cut all of your bacon, hopefully your wok is warm by now. Throw the bacon into the wok and allow it to start to cook. Begin to chop up your onion into the same size as your bacon. You will want to use about half of the onion, but try to have just a few less onions than bacon pieces (personal preference, have as many or little as you want). Once these are chopped, throw them in with your bacon and keep stirring both to make sure they are cooking evenly.

Your water should be boiling strong by now, so lets get that going. Read the directions for your chosen pasta, set the Kitchen timer for 75% of the time the box tells you, we want this pasta to be "al dente". If you are playing it by ear, what you want is for the pasta to resist your spoon when you try to cut them in half, but still be flexible. Spaghetti should be bendy, but just not ready to throw at the wall and stick. For example: most pastas have a cook time of 12 minutes, set your time for 9 minutes. Keep an eye on your bacon/onions, but when the timer goes off and the pasta is still just barely crunchy, strain your pasta, then replace it back into the original pan. Pour in your whole can of Chicken Broth back into the pasta, set the temperature to low, and cover the pasta back up.

IMPORTANT NOTE: Your bacon will likely be squishy after the next step, so it is essential to make sure that you fully cook the bacon. You will not be able to tell if the bacon is raw unless you are diligent on the front end.

Your bacon should start to brown up and begin to get crispy, as well as your onions should start to look brown/black on the edges, and there is a big wok that is covered in bacon grease and fat that is full of flavor. Using the metal can from the chicken broth, pour about half of the bacon grease out of the wok, make sure to leave some in the mixture of bacon/onions and set it aside. We will just wait for this extra grease to cool, harden, and then throw it away without damaging the sink. If you have a different method, feel free. We don't need the extra grease.

You're almost done! Pour the pasta/chicken broth into the wok, stir the two batches together, cover them, and raise the heat to medium-high. Basically, the grease/chicken broth is cooking the rest of the pasta and sealing in the flavor of onions/bacon into each noodle. When you see that the chicken broth is just about evaporated, drop in two egg yolks and stir them into the pasta. Allow it to sit for a few more minutes which will cook the raw egg, as well as boil out the last of the chicken broth. Remove the lid, and pour in about half of the tub of parmesian cheese and stir.

You are finished!