Too Old for Ramen

Crispy Leek and Meaty Bacon Carbonara with Roasted Vegetables.  Click HERE for the recipe on toooldforramen.tumblr.com 

An excellent excuse to use up scraps of elderly produce, Crispy Leek and  Meaty Bacon Carbonara with Roasted Vegetables is a wonderfully satisfying meal to start off a great weekend. It’s rich and creamy, brightened up with roasted peppers and squash and finished off with crispy leek ribbons to accompany smokey country style bacon.  

Have no vegetables laying around? (What? Really?) No problem.  Just eliminate them and you have an (almost) authentic Roman mainstay: the often elusive Spaghetti Carbonara.  I say “almost” because traditionally it is made with guanciale (cured pork jowl) and Pecorino-Romano.  I opted for the substitutions because I can’t find guanciale in my town and the Parmesan I have is an absolutely wonderful sheeps milk cheese that I just love, I couldn’t help but use it. 

Although perfectly acceptable to serve this to important company, this dish is easily made with items you already have in your kitchen.  I LOVE being able to whip this up with such ease.  Don’t be nervous about your sauce separating or your eggs scrambling.   Just make sure the eggs are at room temperature when you add them to the cheese, mix the eggs and cheese up ahead of time, and make sure the pasta doesn’t cool down very much before you toss it with the egg mixture.  OH and toss it really well.  The heat of the pasta should be sufficient to cook the egg mixture.  I use some eggs I get from the farmers market, and it does make a difference, but it is fine to use what you have on hand.  Please fight the urge to add garlic or cream to this dish, it just isn’t necessary.  You will be happy with it just the way it is.  

This is very rich and serves several people, I like it heated up the next day or eaten cold with fingers in a rush.  It will not be as creamy the second time around, but it will be delicious.

 I promise I am going to re-make this into a low carb dish for my friend Stacy.     

Enjoy!  

P.S.  

Please bare with me, I have gotten a new camera (YAY) and I am learning how to use it.  I have gotten some photo editing advice but I am just going to use my pictures as they are until I can figure out how to achieve the effects in gimp (well, I know how to crop and resize them, but that is about it).  

This extreme close up is a sneak peak at what is coming tomorrow or sunday.  I am editing now.  This one is a little dark, but at least you know it has bacon in it.  

This custard highlights some of my favorite food, and it doesn’t have too much sugar in it.  I felt good about feeding it to the baby too.  The mini recipe within this recipe for chai syrup makes more than you need for the dish.  You can let it cool and transfer it to a jar with a lid and store it in the fridge for a few weeks.  It is GREAT on ice cream and to have on hand to make impromptu iced chai lattes.  

Sometimes having a pantry raid can result in a wonderful treat. I haven’t been able to go to the store so I am pretty much stuck with what I have in the refrigerator and the pantry. Luckily, apple wood smoked bacon and ancient carrots can be transformed into a delicious meal. Thus I invented Savory Carrot and Bacon Rice. It is tasty, filling and fairly inexpensive. I took pictures as I made it so that I could share it. I also made a recipe graphic to make it easier to share or save.

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This is a close up of my Savory Carrot and Bacon Rice. It can be served as a side or a decent lunch. I used things I had in the fridge and pantry to make it. Recipe follows this post. Enjoy!