College Kid Cuisine -- Spaghetti Carbonara

I got sick of the College Student Diet pretty quickly.

Grilled cheese, Mac and Cheese, Ramen, More Things With Cheese--these got old really fast. Cheap and Cheesy, that seems to be what we live on for the 4 years we're on our own and hitting the books and possibly also working 30-40 hour weeks.

So what could I create that was cheap, tasty, and would last a while via leftovers?

Enter, Spaghetti Carbonara. 

Do not let the fancy name fool you, this dish is easy peasy-lemon-squeezy... though it doesn't include lemon at all really, but hey, that sounds like it might taste good... hmmm...

Anyways. This was my go-to dish. With the exception of the fresh parsley, I usually had everything I needed on hand. And if I took the long way home and passed by Trader Joe's, I could pick some up for less than a dollar. If I was feeling fancy, I could opt for scallions over onions, fresh parmesan over room-temp-tube-kind, thick-sliced maple smoked bacon or procuitto over whatevers-on-sale-brand, or I could make the entire meal for $6 buying regular stuff.

Good, hearty meal if you're in a fix. Pair with whatever veggies you have in the freezer. Impress your friends that you can cook something with a foreign language name!

Spaghetti Carbonara

• 3 eggs
• 1/4 cup milk
• 1/4 cup chopped parsley
• 1 box pasta of choice
• 3 cloves garlic
• 4 slices bacon, diced
• 1 small onion, diced
• 1/2 cup parmsean
• 1 tbs olive oil
• salt and pepper

-Cook one box pasta according to directions. (I like pastas with holes or twirls as they catch the sauce best).

-Cook bacon over medium-high heat. When bacon is nearly done, add onions and cook until they begin to soften.* Add garlic and cook until fragrant.

-Add pasta to the pan and toss until well coated with bacon grease.

-In a separate bowl, whisk together eggs, milk, parsely, parm, and salt and pepper until well blended. Pour over pasta.

-Remove from heat immediately and toss pasta mixture with egg mixture until well blended.

*You can drain the bacon fat here too, but I stopped doing this because it helps add to the overall flavor of this dish. Hey, I never said it was healthy!

**The heat from the pasta and bacon mix should be enough to cook the egg. If you feel a little ooky about potentially eating raw egg, feel free to stir pasta over low heat for a few minutes, being careful not to scramble the egg. However, I make it exactly this way and I ate it about twice a week for the two years I lived off-campus and never had a problem. So be aware of the risks involved in undercooked eggs, but don't worry too much!