Simple Artichoke Angelhair Carbonara

I love this simple artichoke angelhair carbonara meal.  LOVE.  Which, is funny if you knew me as I don’t usually like long noodle pasta.  Since I was a young girl, I’ve preferred pastas like penne and ziti.

Until I bought this pasta for Christopher.

Now, before I get into the pasta, have you looked at the photo and thought, ‘Hey, where are the artichokes?  I don’t see artichokes.’

You are right.  The only artichoke you see in that photo is in the pasta.  The brand of pasta is DeBoles and this particular pasta is made from a combination of organic durum semolina flour AND organic Jerusalem artichoke flour.

We have been buying this angelhair pasta for over 20 years; since way back when we lived in California.

When I first started to make this, I wasn’t going to eat any because, as I said, I didn’t like long noodle pasta.  It’s not the taste of the pasta I don’t like.  It’s the texture.  Or maybe it doesn’t feel like it’s substantial enough to me.

Not like penne.  Now with penne, you KNOW you are eating pasta.

*Thumps chest with fists*

And although initially I tried the angelhair, I stuck to my guns and basically just made it for Christopher.  The years rolled by.  And the only time I would eat some was when I had to test a few strands as I cooked it.

Then, a year ago, I was watching Christopher shovel forkfuls in his mouth and I thought, ‘Hmm, that looks good.’  So I had a few forkfuls myself.  Not bad.

The next time I made it, I had a plate full.

The rest is history.

Totally off topic: Christopher has many talents, but the one I’m going to talk about is his ability to make the food on his plate look better than the food on yours.  And when he makes a sandwich, it looks way better than yours.  My niece Robyn has asked Christopher to make her a sandwich more than once since he makes it look so good.

Do you know anyone with that talent?

One of my nephews, Bryan, also has that talent.  Granted, it’s a passive talent, but still, a talent.

On to the Simple Artichoke Angelhair Carbonara Recipe

I do a few things at the same time.  Well, not literally.  Let’s say, I do a few things concurrently. I chop the onion and get out the pancetta.  I also fill a stockpot half way with water and put it on to boil.

I also boil some water in a small pan and cook a cup of frozen peas.

Next I take out my cast iron sauté pan and turn the heat to medium.  I add a few tablespoons of olive oil.  In go the onions.  I sauté them for 5 minutes before I add the pancetta.  I sauté it for 9 minutes before I add 2 cloves of minced garlic.  I sauté it all for another minute.

By now, the water is boiling and I put the whole pound of pasta in.  This pasta cooks fast!  It’s pretty much done between 5 – 7 minutes.

I crack open two eggs, get some parmesan cheese, place them into a medium mixing bowl and whisk them together.

The pasta is done so I take out my large metal mixing bowl and put hot tap water in it just to get the chill off it.

I drain the pasta and quickly put it into the heated bowl.  Next, I put the egg mixture on top of the pasta and mix it around.  You have to be quick with mixing it, because you want to cook the egg with the heat of the pasta but you don’t want the egg to scramble.

Yay.  Now I place the pancetta mixture and peas in with the pasta and mix it all together.  I place it all in a serving bowl.

Doesn’t that look delicious?

All that is left is to EAT!  So I plate the pasta.

Now to take a forkful.

And we eat it all up.

I hope you enjoyed this recipe.  Christopher and I really enjoyed eating the carbonara fresh and as leftovers.

Please feel free to leave me a comment, Pin any photo to Pinterest and Yum the recipe to Yummly.

And as always, may all your dishes be delish!

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