Carbonara Pasta + extras

My SO loves parmigiano-reggiano, and when we were in school, he used to buy huge chunks of this cheese, eat a bit on the first day, and then leave it in the fridge for the rest of the semester to dry up. We recently acquired a big slice from Ye Olde Costco, so I've been trying to use it up on cheese plate nights, grated over veggies, and in pasta.

We've had some eggs sitting in the first for a bit, so I wanted to try creating carbonara pasta...something I've actually never had before, so just a heads-up: even if the result turns out good, it cannot be confirmed that this tastes like good carbonara. Though it may be good pasta.

Ingredients

• Pasta of your choice
• 2 whole eggs + 2 egg yolks (save the egg whites for breakfast the next day)
• Olive oil
• Bacon is typically used, but I had turkey sausage
• 1/2 cup grated parmesan
• Optional veggies (i need my veg in every meal, so i used baby spinach, baby kale, grape tomatoes, and peas)
• Salt + pepper to taste

Methodology

It's time to juggle.

On one burner, start boiling your pasta according to instructions on package to get the perfect al dente. Fun fact: I like my pasta and noodles to be past al dente and be pretty soft, hah.

On the other burner, heat up a pan with some olive oil.

Cut up the sausage and grape tomatos and cook in the pan.

In a totally separate bowl, whisk the two whole eggs, two egg yolks, and grated parmesan together.

When the pasta is done boiling, use tongs to transfer the pasta into the sausage pan. Save the pasta water in the pot.

Add in the baby spinach, baby kale, and peas to cook through.

When the whole pasta mixture is done cooking, turn off the heat and let everything cool for a few minutes.

Speedily move the pasta mixture into the egg/cheese bowl and mix. Set the bowl over the top of the pasta water pot to form a double boiler to slowly cook the egg saucy and make it super creamy.

Results

The sauce is pretty good--salty and creamy. The pasta is nice.

However, peas were not a good addition since they're so sweet, and the sausage was not a good substitution for OG ask for bacon since it has its own overwhelming spicy flavor that didn't really go together too well with all the other components.

When SO and I were eating this for dinner, it was definitely a weird combination, but interestingly, but eating this cold the next day was pretty good. The sauce really shines through.