Spaghetti Carbonara with Poached Eggs

I mentioned this in my last post, and I feel a bit weird about announcing it over the internet, but here goes: Over the holidays Jordan proposed, and I said yes. It has been a magnificent couple of weeks, full of celebrating with friends and family. Jordan told me that the wedding is off if I go on a “wedding diet” and I assured him that it wouldn’t happen, because it can’t happen. Because everywhere I turn these days someone is pouring me a glass of bubbly, and then refilling it, and then refilling it again. Let me tell you friends, it is hard to stay sober when you’re recently engaged.

So this post is against all the new years resolutions, and against the very principle of a wedding diet, because it is hang-over food.

Spaghetti Carbonara, or “bacon and egg bascetti” as I used to call it when I was wee, it basically just that- bacon, eggs, parmesan, and loads of black pepper. You don’t need to cook the sauce, it cooks as the it’s tossed with the hot pasta. You can easily make this without the poached egg of course, but there is something about adding that makes the pasta feel like breakfast. Which is sometimes just the ticket.

Spaghetti Carbonara with Poached Eggs

1 lb Spaghetti

7 Eggs (use good quality free range organic ones, it really will make a difference)

400g Bacon (good smoky stuff please!)

200g Parmesano Reggiano, or Grana Padano

Salt and Pepper

Cut the bacon into ½ inch pieces and cook them in a small frying pan over medium heat for about 15 minutes, or until they are crunchy, but not burning.

Strain the fat off into a jar of can. Put the bacon aside.

Fill a large and a medium sized pot with water and bring to a boil.

Meanwhile grate the parmesan and mix it in a large bowl with 3 of the eggs and healthy cracking of black pepper.

When the large pot of water comes to a boil, season it liberally with salt and cook the pasta to the directions on the package.

Just as the pasta is done and you’re about to strain it, crack the eggs into the remaining medium sized pot.

Strain the pasta and add it, and the bacon to the egg and parm mixture. Stir vigorously until it has completely combined, making sure it doesn’t curdle.

Divide among 4 bowls.

Using a slotted spoon remove the eggs from the water- testing to make sure they are done by gently poking at the yolk and white with your finger, ensuring that the white is hard but the yolk is soft.

Put the eggs on top of the pasta and enjoy immediately!

Poached Eggs with Seared Trout and Minty Pesto

My Mom grew up with what she calls “Depression Era” food. The sort of get-as-much-fat-in-you-while-you-can-because-you-don’t-know-when-food-will-be-around-next. The sort of food inspired by the hardships her parents faced when they were young. She had never had a green bean not cooked in cream sauce until her twenties. It wasn’t food that was based around quality ingredients, or fresh ingredients, or local produce, except incidentally. In fact I’ve only really heard her talk about a handful of things she ate as a kid. Mostly we talk about her moms “cloud” biscuits, which are legendary in my family. They are outrageously good. As are Grammy’s gingerbread cookies and her pies. The other food-things that my mom talks about from when she was wee, is corn and trout, which are things her dad made.

For corn, my Grampy would have a pot of water boiling on the stove, and then, and only then, would he go outside and cut the corn, shuck it, and bring it inside to boil. The pot had to be boiling. It’s the only way to eat corn.

The other thing my Grampy did was go trout fishing. He’d wake up at the crack of dawn and escape the kids and watch the sunrise. And then he’d fry up trout for breakfast for the family. My mom starts smiling when she talks about those trout.

I’ve been thinking an awful lot about Grampy lately. I cleaned out my desk the other day and found a slew of cards I’ve written him and never sent. Which is ridiculous. I’ve got stamps, I’ve got envelopes. I’ve got cute little cards. They have thoughtful notes written out. Why haven’t I sent them? They do no good here.

The other thing I found was all these letters that he’s sent me. His is so witty, and smart, and funny and charming. There is so much of his personality in those letters, a personality I don’t know very well because we live so far apart.

So the other day I was thinking about him, still kicking it at 94, when I walked by my local fishmonger and there were the most beautiful little trout in the window. And I knew I had to get some for breakfast.

I’m sure this is not how my Grampy made trout. I can’t imagine him making a pesto or poaching an egg, although it’s possible that those are two skills he has that I don’t know about. But it’s a very me breakfast, poached eggs and beans and pesto, with a bit of him thrown in, in the form of little river fish.

And it was wonderful.

Poached Eggs with Seared Trout and Minto Pesto and Green Beans

Serves 2

• 1/2lb Green Beans, cleaned with the woody ends picked off
• 2 small Trout, or one larger one. Gutted and filleted.
• 2 good quality Free Range Eggs
• 1 small Handful of Mint
• 1 large Handful of Parsley
• 1 small clove of Garlic, peeled and coarsely chopped.
• 1 Lemon
• 1/3 cup Olive Oil
• Salt and Pepper

In a food processor blitz together the parlsey, mint, garlic and ¼ cup of the olive oil. Zest half of the lemon in and add in a healthy pinch of salt. Pulse a couple times. Check for seasoning. Put aside.

Fill a medium pot with water and bring to a boil. Add a pinch of salt.

Meanwhile bring a small frying full of water to a boil. Add the beans and cook for 2 minutes. Strain and set aside.

Rinse out the frying pan and put it back on the stove over medium heat.

Let it warm up and then add the remaining olive oil.

Season the trout liberally with salt.

When the pan is quite hot (but not smoking) put the fish fillets in skin side down. Immediately shake the pan a bit to move the fish around. That will make sure they don’t stick.

Cook the trout on the skin side until it’s about ½ way cooked. Flip them over, and cook for 30 more seconds.

Put the fish on a plate.

Once you’ve flipped the fish crack your eggs into your boiling water. Turn the water down to a simmer. And cook for about 3 mintues for nice runny eggs.

Put them on top of the fish with the beans and spoon the sauce on top. Serve Immediately.

Maple Peach Dutch Baby Pancake

It has been a whirlwind. There have been parties and weddings and wedding cakes. There have been new jobs, and exciting starts and, of all things, boxing matches. There have been hiking trips and visits from friends, and long summer days.

It has been fun. It has been stressful and crazy and overwhelming but it has been fun.
I am feeling pretty lucky these days.

But it’s time to put my nose to the grindstone. It’s time to start writing here more, in this wonderful little piece of the internet that I love so much. It’s time to start really pushing myself again, and it’s something I’m surprisingly looking forward to.

It’s time.

None of that has anything to do with dutch baby pancakes. Nothing at all really.

But everything I’ve said thus far has been very honest, and I’m going to stick with that theme and tell you this; this dutch baby pancake is all kinds of wonderful. It’s soft and eggy and filled with peaches, which, and I’m going to make a bold statement right now, are my favourite fruit.

You should probably make it right now. It’s happy as a dessert, but it’s equally as at home as a sweet breakfast, although I’l admit, I ate a whole lot more then I should have for lunch! 

Maple Peach Dutch Baby Pancakes

Adapted from a recipe from Bon Apettit

4 medium super ripe peaches

1/4 cup Maple Syrup

4 tbsp Butter

1tbsp Sugar

3/4 cup Flour

3/4 cup Milk

1 tsp Salt

1 tbsp Vanilla Extract

Preheat the oven to 400F

Bring a medium pot of water to a boil.

With a pairing knife cut an X shape into the bottom of the peaches.

Put the peaches in the water for about 15 seconds.

Immediately strain and rinse with cold water until they have cooled.

Again with the pairing knife, gently peel back the skin of the peaches. It should be very easy and have no resistance.

Cut them into 1/4 inch slices.

Melt 2 tbsp of the butter.

Scrape the butter into a blender and add the sugar, flour, vanilla extract, salt, and milk. Blend until smooth.

In a 12 inch cast iron pan over medium heat, melt the remaining butter. Add in the maple syrup stir to combine, then add in the peaches.

Cook, stirring often, for about 7 minutes, or until the peaches are cooked through.

Pour in the batter and move the pan to the oven and bake for about 17 minutes until puffed and brown.

Serve immediately- but don’t worry as the pancake sinks a bit, it will happen no matter what you do!

Poached Eggs Toast with Roasted Asparagus and Herbed Ricotta

Unless you’re a cook, I’m not sure if you will appreciate what I’m about to tell you. I’m not sure if you’ll understand that gravity of my next statement, unless you have spend countless years working every evening and weekend of my entire adult life, but I, Claire Lassam, don’t work on weekends any more.

To non cooks let me tell you this- for the first time in our 6 year relationship, my boyfriend and I have the same days off.

It is amazing.

I am not exaggerating when I tell you it’s a small miracle.

I am so very very happy about it.

Jordan on the other hand, is working all the blooming time these days, and about once a week he’s taking the ferry over to Victoria. So I thought I should meet him on the island and we should escape for a couple days. Actually I’m thinking we should do this all the time.

Oh man I love Vancouver Island. I really really really do.

The people are so nice, the weather is so much better, the scenery is totally comparable to where I currently live.

I just love it.

While we were away I made this little breakfast. Nothing fussy- just some toast and asparagus and ricotta with an egg on top, but it’s rich and comforting and so simple to make. And it was just about the perfect thing to eat while sipping hot tea, reading a book, and just generally being very calm, very relaxed, and very happy.

Poached Eggs with Roasted Asaparagus, Ricotta, and Sourdough Toast

4 Eggs

4 pieces Sourdough Bread

1 cup Ricotta

zest of 1 Lemon

2 tbsp Parsley, chopped finely

1 bunch Asparagus

Olive Oil

Salt and Pepper

Preheat oven to 400F

Break the bottoms of the asparagus- don’t cut them, they will break where the woody part ends.

On a lined baking tray spread out the asparagus, and mix with a good glug of olive oil, some and pepper.

Bake for about 15 minutes, or until the tips are crispy, but they aren’t soggy.

Bring a large pot of water to a boil.

Meanwhile mix the ricotta with the zest, parsley, salt and pepper.

Poach the eggs- break them into the large pot of water and turn the water down to a low boil. Cook for about 3 minutes for soft poached eggs.

Toast the bread.

Spread the ricotta mixture on the toast, put a handful of asparagus on top of that, and top each piece with an egg.

Sprinkle some more salt on top and enjoy!

Pancetta and Leek Quiche

It was Jazz Festival in Vancouver last week, a weekend where every venue puts on shows ranging from Mexican folk music to old proper quartets and everyone in between shows up, and while admittedly most of the more senior people in this play at expensive sold out shows, slews of people play at the outdoor stages. Every year a couple friends of ours who live near one of these outdoor venues throw a big party and we eat too much breakfast and then spend the day in the beer garden and listen to great music. It is one of my favourite days of the year.

And this year was no exception, the only difference was that after several drinks I decided that everyone should come over to brunch the next day which was, shall we say, a questionable decision.

I love having people over for brunch, as one friend put it “it’s breakfast you don’t have to wake up early for” and I would like to add it’s breakfast you can drink champagne with and not feel guilty. So I hauled my butt out of bed and made quiche.

I think people get scared of quiche, the pastry the baking, but really, you eat it at room temperature, so while you have to get up a little earlier to put it together, it means you don’t have to cook at all when people arrive, which is a trade off I’m more than happy to give. This is also a very special quiche recipe, one that is smoother than smooth and not overwhelmingly eggy.

I served this with heaps of roasted potatoes and a big salad, and I think everyone was very happy, even me, once I had a glass of bubbly in my hands!

Leek and Pancetta Quiche.

This recipe is adapted from the Tartine Bakery cookbook, and is special for 2 reasons- it has a tiny amount of flour in it which helps it from cracking, and it uses creme fraiche, which gives it a bit of a tang. Because I made several of these this weekend and my grocery store only had one small container of it, I substituted half yoghurt in, and this worked beautifully)

Pastry

This pastry works very simply. You keep big pieces of butter in the dough and chill it. When the cold butter goes into the hot oven it produces steam, and thats what gives you the flakey layers. So, it’s very important not to cut the butter too small or to overwork the dough.

2 cups AP Flour

1 cup Butter, very cold, cubed

1 tsp Salt

A small cup of ice water

Filling

5 Eggs

3 tbsp Flour

1 cup Creme Fraiche

1 cup Whole Milk

1 tbsp finely chopped thyme

1 tsp Salt

3 Large Leeks, sliced

200g Pancetta

Put the butter into a bowl with the flour and the salt, and with your hands break apart the butter into lima bean sized pieces.

Add the a couple tablespoons of butter and stir, then add a couple more until it just follows a fork around the bowl as you stir.

Now push it flat and fold it in half, and repeat until the dough starts to come together but it is still soft. If it starts to feel firm stop right away. Wrap it up and put in the freezer for 15 minutes.

Preheat the oven to 375F

Roll out the dough and fit it into a 12 inch tart pan, a 10 inch pie pan, or even a 10 inch cake pan.

Take a piece of parchment paper and cut it into a circle an inch wider than your tart. Press it into the top of your pastry and pour some beans or rice into it. This will prevent your beautiful pastry from rising too much.

Bake it for about 20 minutes, and then take out the beans and parchment paper and bake it for another 10, until the whole thing is a nice light brown color.

Turn the oven down to 325F

Filling.

While all this is going on slice up your leeks and pancetta and start cooking them over medium low heat. They will get soft, loose their liquid and then start to caramelize. This will take about 20 minutes.

In a large bowl mix together one of the eggs with the flour. Stir until there are no bumps, a couple of minutes. Add in the other eggs one by one, scraping the sides to make sure no flour is sticking.

Mix the milk and the creme fraiche together with a whisk until smooth and add that to the egg mix. Season with the salt, pepper and thyme.

Once the tart shell is out, fill it with the leeks and pancetta mixture. Pour the egg mix on top until the tart is very full.

Bake until the center has just firmed up, about 30 minutes.

Allow to cool before eating.

Panzanella Salad with Broccolini, Almonds, and Poached Eggs

 

I was reading a piece a while back in the New York Times opinion section about a former restaurant critic. He had a line about trendy restaurants that went something like “Yes, now everyone does hanger steaks with poached eggs, who cares? 10 years ago it was salmon and lentils” And to that article I say, I will totally be putting poached eggs on everything in 10 years. I love poached eggs. 

I think most people associate eggs with breakfast. Maybe it’s because my Mom’s back up dinner was always frittata, or maybe it’s because I used to run a small breakfast restaurant, so I was always thinking about what my specials would be the night before, but either way I eat eggs for dinner all the time.

Mostly I make a big salad and plop a poached egg on top. It’s a simple, protein filled, very cheap way to make a salad feel like dinner, and it’s a wonderful thing. This one is full of day old bread that is ripped apart and fried in olive oil. I’ve also added broccolini but what makes this really special are the slow cooked onions that are fried up with almonds and rosemary. It just makes it feel less like a throw together meal, like your not just making because all of those things happen to be in your fridge, and you had stale bread from last nights dinner and your too lazy to go out and buy some fish. Oh no. This is intentional. And it’s very very good. 

Panzanella Salad with Broccolini, Almonds and Poached Eggs

2 Free Range Organic Eggs

2 cups of Day old (or fresh!) baguette, cut into cubes or torn into pieces.

1 bunch Broccolini

1 Large yellow Onion, thinly sliced.

1/2 cup Whole Almonds, coarsely chopped.

1 sprig of Rosemary, finely chopped

Juice of half a lemon

Olive oil, Salt and Pepper

In a large saucepan over medium-low heat warm up a big glug of olive oil. Add in the onions and a pinch of salt. Cook until the onions are very soft, stirring often and not letting them brown.

Meanwhile get a deep pot of water on the stove on high heat and bring it up to a boil. 

Once the onions are starting to want to brown add in the rosemary and the almonds and let the almonds get nicely toasted and the rosemary make your whole house smell amazing. Now scoop all that goodness into a bowl and get the pan up to a medium heat.

Warm up another big glug of oil and put in broccolini. It will spit a bit when you put it in  don’t be alarmed! Just cook them until they turn bright great and the tips get a little bit browned and they are just a little tender to the bite if you eat one. Salt generously and squeeze a little lemon juice on top. Then put them on the bowl with the onions. 

Once again heat up some olive oil in the pan and add bread this time. Let the bread get nicely brown and salt it too. Once it’s crispy and delicious add it into the bowl and mix it all together and adjust the seasoning.

Now poach the eggs. Drop them in one by one and cook them until the whites are hard but the yolks are soft, about 3 minutes.

Fill up salad bowls with the panzanella and add one egg on each. And there is a simple cheap delicious meal in under 20 minutes!

Arugula Omelette with Bread Crumbs

Heres the thing of it; I only buy really good bread. Out of principle. Heres the other thing of it; good bread is only good for a day. Heres the other thing of it; there are only 2 people in my household so it’s hard to go through a whole baguette, or a full of sourdough loaf. (note, if Nutella is involved it is not hard to go through a whole baguette.)

So I’m always looking for excuses to use stale bread. Someone told me recently that in Italy breadcrumbs are poor mans cheese, which got me thinking. The friend who told me this had just made braised leeks and sprinkled breadcrumbs that she had sauteed in olive oil with garlic and rosemary and it was a killer dish. The sort of elegant dish Italian peasants have made for the last 300 years. So when I got home that night I busted out my food processor and made great use of the day old bread that always seems to be sitting in my bread box. And then I went to bed because it was late and I had already eaten dinner.

The next morning though I woke Jordan up with omelettes, just simple ham and arugula omelettes but I sprinkled breadcrumbs on the top and they were suddenly these elevated into something much more interesting. The crispness, the toasted flavour, the spike of rosemary, it was a glorious combination that, because I had already made the breadcrumbs, it was a no brainer painfully easy addition. Which is exactly what I want in my breakfasts.

Breadcrumbs

At least 2 cups of stale bread diced into cubes

1 tsp chopped Rosemary

1 tbsp chopped Parsley

2 clove Garlic

Zest of 1 lemon

A glug of Olive Oil

Salt and Pepper

Omelettes

4 Eggs

1 tbsp chopped Parsley

a Handful of Arugula

50g Ham or Porketta, thinly sliced.

2 tbsp Grated Parm, Romano, or Fruitlano.

2 tsp Butter

Salt and Pepper

In a food processor pulse breadcrumbs until they are crushed but not powdery. You want to be able to bite into them still.

In a frying pan over medium-low heat warm up the olive oil.

Add in the breadcrumbs and stir until they start to get toasty.

Add in the garlic and rosemary and keep stirring until the garlic gets fragrant and the breadcrumbs have become a nice toasty brown.

Add in the salt the zest and the parsley and set aside.

Mix 2 eggs in a bowl until thoroughly combined. Add the salt, pepper and parsley and mix again.

In a small frying pan over medium heat (your life will be easier if this is a non stick pan. If you don’t use non stick- I don’t- just make sure the pan is sparkling clean) warm up a teaspoon of the butter.

Pour the eggs in and using a wooden spoon or a spatula mix the eggs as the cook until there are some scrambled pieces but they are all connected by the uncooked eggs.

Using your spatula spread the eggs out into a thin layer and let them firm up.

Once the top is beginning to set flip the omelette- use a rubber spatula to lift the edges and then with a quick flick of the wrist flip it.*

Let it cook for another 30 seconds. Sprinkle with the grated cheese, and then layer on the ham and arugula. Fold the omelette onto itself and slide it onto a plate.

Dust the top generously with the bread crumbs.

*If your not comfortable flipping the omelette you can just let it cook all the way on the one side and then fold the whole thing in half at the end. ALTHOUGH Julia Child recommends practising the flipping motion with a pan with a handful of dried beans, and who am I to argue with Julia Child.

Oat Soda Bread with Herbed Ricotta and Scrambled Eggs

We might be moving to the country. It’s not for sure yet, but there is a real chance we might pick ourselves out of the most expensive city to live in in North America and curl up on Vancouver Island. This appeals of me on many levels, mostly because when I think of living in the country and I don’t think of isolation or hard winters. Instead I day dream about long summer days in the garden. I fantasize about growing my own veggies and taking long walks in the fields at sunset. I get a glazed over look when I think about hanging my sheets out to dry or having a fire place or having enough room to build the bed I’ve always wanted to make. And when the logical man I would be moving with tells me I’m absolutely ridiculous and there are other things to consider when making a move like this I simply make this wonderful rustic bread, and strain some ricotta cheese and imagine that my eggs came from my yard, and I slip back into my imaginary world. Because fresh eggs and oat stuffed soda bread arecompletely at home there.

Oat Soda Bread with Herbed Ricotta and Soft Scrambled Eggs

(The bread recipe is adapted from 101cookbooks)

For the Bread

2 1/4 cups AP Flour

2 cups Rolled Oats

1 3/4 tsp Baking Soda

1 1/4 tsp Salt

1 3/4 cup Butter milk, more if needed

Herbed Ricotta

2/3 cup Ricotta cheese

1/4 cup chopped herbs, I used parsley, thyme, and rosemary, although tarragon or mint would be right at home there too)

Zest of 1 lemon

Salt and Pepper

1 tbsp Olive Oil

Soft Scrambled Eggs

4 Good Quality free range eggs, splurge and get the good ones if you can. It really does make a difference.

1 tbsp Butter

1 tbsp Heavy cream (Optional)

To start preheat the oven to 425F

In a food processor blitz 1 cup of the oats to a fine powder. If you don’t have a food processor don’t worry. Your bread will be delicious anyways, I promise.

Mix it in a bowl with everything else except 2 tbsp of the whole oats. Mix it all together until just combined.

Gently knead it a few times and then form it into a ball.

Put it on a baking tray lined with parchment and sprinkle the remaining oats on top. ( I ran out of oats so I missed this step!)

Cut a deep X on the top with a sharp knife and put it in the oven! Bake until it is cooked all the way through, about 45 minutes. It will have a thick crust and sound hollow when you knock on it.

Meanwhile mix together your herbed ricotta. Just mix it all up in a bowl and check the seasoning.

When the bread is out of the oven, let it cool for a few minutes. Slice it up and slather it with the ricotta.

Now, seconds before your ready to eat your ready to cook your eggs. Here is how I cook mine, and how I like my eggs best.

Crack your eggs into a bowl and whisk them very well. How fluffy they are is a direct correlation to much you beat them. Whisk in the cream if using.

Get a small frying pan hot.

Add in the butter and swirl it around for a second then, before it has fully melted add in the eggs. Now stir them slowly. I like my eggs with big pieces of scramble, and to do that you need to work the eggs slowly but throughally. When they are still a little shiny take them off the heat give them one last stir and quickly scrape them onto the ricotta slathered slices of bread.

And then eat it quickly and happily, and imagine your sitting on a farm in the country!

Carbonara

They say that scent is the sense most linked to memory and I think, despite not knowing who they are, that they’re right. I think about it occasionally, if a man walks by wearing Jordan’s old cologne and I get a flash in my head of his old apartment, or the way freshly cut rhubarb makes me think of my mom making pie, but never is it more obvious to me then when I smell bacon.

Bacon, which I have eaten literally hundreds of times in at least dozens of ways.

But every time I smell bacon cooking all I can think of is a pale pale yellow bowl with thin red and blue stripes around the top of the inside. I can see it vividly, sitting on top of the glass tabletop from my childhood backyard, with our neighbours overgrown shrubs turning into trees in the background. I can feel the warmth of the hot Toronto summers, but mostly what I see is the Spaghetti carbonara inside that striped bowl, and what I smell is bacon.

It was the ultimate summer meal, it took minutes to throw together, cook bacon, cook pasta, toss with eggs and pepper and parmesan, put on table. The speed of it was important not only because my Mom was a busy woman, but also so the burners wouldn’t be on and heat up the house.

For me, this pasta is the epitome of simple Italian food, and I am a snob about it. I adamantly don’t believe that there should be anything in it besides pasta, eggs, parm, pepper, bacon and salt. I don’t like cream in mine, i think it should be creamy enough as is. The crucial thing is that everything be of great quality. Using DeMecca pasta will not give you good carbonara. Using a brand, made in Italy, that has 100%duram semolina flour is important. (I have found, although I’m sure there are lots of exceptions to this rule, that the pasta in boxes is often of a lesser quality then the kind in a bag with the label stapled to the top.)

Good eggs are also crucial, and maybe most important is the parm. Try to get grana padano, or real parmesanno reggiano.

And also, don’t skip on the pepper. The name Carbonara means black, like coals, and though I don’t like quite that much pepper in mine it should have a fair bit.

Spaghetti Carbonara

10 thick slices of the best bacon you can get. Pancetta is a lovely subsistute as well.

2 Free Range Organic Eggs

3/4 cup Grated Parmesano Reggiono, or Grana Padano

1 package Very good Quality Spaghetti, or Spaghettini

Salt and Pepper

Cut the bacon into thick pieces.

Fry them on medium heat until wonderful and crispy, but with a little chew to them still.

Strain and set aside.

Get a big pot of water on high heat.

Meanwhile mix your eggs, parm and a healthy cracking of pepper.

I was a little crazy this time and added a bit of parsley. You could do that too if you wanted.

Now put that strange eggy sauce in the bottom of a large bowl.

Now, perhaps you have a good stove and your water is boiling already. In that case, throw your pasta in, give it a good stir and cook it depending on the package instructions, but basically if until it is cooked throw with a bit of bite to it yet. If you don’t have a good stove, throw on some Aretha and dance around a bit, and then add your pasta, stir it a bit and cook it by the package instructions. Whatever works for you.

Once it’s cooked strain it and then quickly put it into that big bowl with the sauce in the bottom and give it a good toss. You want to move quickly now.  If you take to long the eggs with curdle, but if you move just fast enough you’ll have a wonderful silky sauce that wraps around each noodle. And it will be glorious.