Carbonara

When I walked through the heavy snow fall to work out in the gym, I knew that I would need to reward myself for being so good to my body. Even if that reward ends up balancing out (or doing more bad than good...) the work out, I thought I would just go for it.

Of course, the reward I chose for myself is to cook myself carbonara as my post-work out meal. I honestly don't know how many hours I would need to slave away on the elliptical to balance out this meal, but I am telling myself that in the long run, rewards like this would keep me going back to the gym... Right?

Here's a picture of my lunch:

I almost strictly followed Mario Batali's recipe of Carbonara:

Ingredients (for 4 servings)

- 200g guanciale (the recipe calls for 8 oz but I think 200g, a little bit less, is enough)

- 1 lb spaghetti

- 1 C grated Parmegiano-Reggiano

- 4 eggs

- freshly ground black pepper

Directions:

In a pan, render and brown guanciale until crispy and golden. 

In a pot, bring water to a boil, add 2 tablespoons of salt and cook spaghetti until al dente. 

Reheat guanciale with 1/4 cup of the pasta cooking water to the pan. Toss in spaghetti and heat, shaking the pan for a minute. Add the grated cheese, egg whites and black pepper. Then toss around. Serve in individual bowls (4 in this case) and add the egg yolk in the center. Serve with more freshly ground pepper and/or parmegiano reggiano.

_________

It's actually the simplest recipe and it is delicious! Granted, we probably should not eat this on a daily basis, but once in a while, it is great. 

Mario Batali also says that pancetta can be used as a replacement, but having used pancetta last time I made this same recipe, I have to say, go for guanciale if you can find it. The flavor is so much richer!