This Friday our team led by the dedicated Guy St-Pierre whipped up some pasta dishes including this creation by yours truly. I call it Baked Pasta Carbonara.

As usual I conducted extensive research (a Google search). Here is what Wikipedia says about Carbonora:

“There are many theories for the origin of the name, which may be more recent than the dish itself.  Since the name is derived from carbonaro (the Italian word for charcoal burner), some believe the dish was first made as a hearty meal for Italian charcoal workers.  In parts of the United States the etymology gave rise to the term “coal miner’s spaghetti”. It has even been suggested that it was created as a tribute to the Carbonari (“charcoalmen”), a secret society prominent in the early, repressed stages of Italian unification. It seems more likely that it is an urban dish from Rome,  although it has nothing to do with the homonym restaurant in the roman Campo de’ Fiori square.^“

So together with my fellow Italian (or who want to be Italian) charcoal workers, here is us assembling the feast before the al forno (oven) part.

If you would like to try this at your school, workplace or if you know of any hungry charcoal workers, here is how you can make them happy!

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Ingredients

• ½ pound of bacon
• ½ pound of prociutto
• 2 cups of 18% cream
• 8 servings of pasta (see package for instructions)
• 6-8 eggs
• Dehydrated onion flakes
• Grated romano cheese
• Grated asiago cheese
• Salt
• Pepper

Dice bacon and place into a pot on medium heat.  Once bacon is cooked but not crispy, drain excess fat and add in prociutto and ¼ cup of dehydrated onion flakes.  After 2-3 minutes add in cream, bring to a low boil, then remove from heat, stirring occasionally.  Allow cream sauce to cool until it is warm (about 15-20 minutes)

Separate 6-8 egg yolks from the white, and blend yolks together in a bowl.  Mix egg yolks into warm cream sauce.

Bring pasta to a boil, and drain when soft.  Pour bottom layer of pasta into a large casserole dish, then add a generous layer of cream/egg sauce and sprinkle evenly with grated romano cheese.  Add second layer of pasta and pour remaining cream sauce on top.  Compress the pasta so it is evenly coated in sauce and top with a layer of grated Asiago (or white chedder).

Bake at 350°F for 20-30 minutes, or until cheese is beginning to turn golden brown.

Buon Appetito!