I had some egg yolks left over from making homemade klondike bars, so I decided to make some pasta carbonara. Traditionally, pasta carbonara is made with guanciale, cured pork jowl. It is somewhat difficult to get in the United States and bacon or pork belly is often suggested as an alternative. I used half a pound of peppered, cured pork belly diced and rendered until mostly crisp. For the sauce, I combined the three leftover egg yolks, about 100 grams each of parmesan and pecorino romano cheese, a lot of cracked black pepper, and a drizzle of olive oil in a large bowl and mixed into a paste. I also added a dash of milk leftover from the klondike bars to loosen the sauce.

For cheese or oil based sauces, I like to cook my pasta in a small amount of water as shown in this video for stovetop mac and cheese by J. Kenji Lopez-Alt. This concentrates the starch in the water which helps emulsify the sauce. Once the pasta is al dente, I drained most of the water and then tossed the pasta in the pan with the pork to emulsify the oil. Then, I add the pasta and pork into the bowl with the sauce and vigorously toss it. The residual heat in the pasta cooks the eggs to a custard-like consistency.

Pasta carbonara, cacio e pepe, and aglio e olio are all solid and quick pasta dishes that you should have at the ready.