This is a family favorite. It is basically a heart attack in a bowl. Serve it with some dripping garlic bread, a Cesar salad, and some nice wine. Mixing all the ingredients together can be rough on the biceps, but all the effort is well worth it when your guests leave with full and happy stomachs. Make sure to use good bacon and sausage because it adds most of the flavor. Also try substituting pancetta, ham, or other cured meats.

Ingredients

• One package of pasta
• 6 eggs
• 1/4 C half and half
• 1 lb bacon
• 1 lb Italian sausage
• 3 cloves garlic
• 1 C grated Parmesan cheese (you could also use any combination of Romano and Asiago)
• 1/4 C chopped parsley (garnish)

Directions

Start by cooking all the meat. I typically chop up the bacon before cooking it and drain the fat off midway through cooking. Don’t drain off all the fat, because you’re going to want to use it later.

While the meat is cooking, beat the eggs and half and half and let sit. You want this to get close to room temperature for mixing everything together.

When the meat is a quarter of the way done, start boiling the water for the pasta. While you’re waiting, share some wine with your guests (this makes it all taste better). You’ll need your strength for the rest of the procedure.

The meat is done when it is on the verge of charring. Cook the pasta al dente and drain. Add some of the bacon and sausage fat to the pot and crush the garlic into the fat over high heat. Cook the garlic till it starts to get translucent, then take off the heat. Add the pasta and more of the fat (you’ll want to add about 1/4 C total). Mix well.

Then add all of the egg mixture and the cheese. Mix well and continuously. Turn on the heat to low and keep mixing. The traditional recipe you don’t need to turn the heat back on because the pasta cooks the eggs. If you want to cook it a little (like I do) you need to keep mixing the pasta so that the eggs don’t cook too much. You want to pull it off the heat when the sauce starts to thicken.

After it’s off the heat, add all the meat and stir in. Plate the pasta and garnish with parsley and cracked black pepper.