Perciatelli Carbonara

I did a crop, and a close up photo of my carbonara pasta, so you could see the nice sauce, with the pepper flakes, the diced red bell pepper, the bacon, and fresh parsley, the Parmesan cheese had already melted deliciously, on the top. My easy recipe, to follow. 

Perciatelli Carbonara 
(for 2)


1/2 box of a 1lb. Perciatelli or Spaghetti
1 onion, chopped
2 cloves garlic, chopped
1 red, (or any color) bell pepper, diced
a dash of pepper flakes
salt and pepper, to taste,
4 slices of bacon fried crisp, and crumbled
2 eggs, mixed with 1/4 heavy cream
1 Tbsp extra virgin olive oil
1/4 Cup grated Parmesan cheese
1Tbsp. bacon fat


First step, which is the most important step...In a large high heat resistant skillet, fry the bacon until crisp, and lay them on double thick paper towel to absorb the grease., and chop or crumble into small pieces. Next, drain but leave about 1 Tbsp. of the bacon grease, and add to it the1 Tbsp. of the olive oil. Saute  the onion, the chili pepper flakes, garlic, and bell pepper, in the reserved bacon grease, and olive oil.
In the meantime, boil pasta to al dente, saving 1/2 cup of the cooking water, if needed, to thin out the sauce, (which you most like don't have to) 
Scramble the eggs with the cream till nicely blended, and set aside. Drain the pasta, leaving about 1/2 cooking liquid, and set that aside. Pull the skillet off the heat, and add the pasta right into the skillet, pour the eggs, and cream mixture, right over the top, and mix together, adding the Parmesan cheese, and serve, with additional cheese, and chopped parsley, with a generous grinding of black pepper. 
note:
Be sure to pull off the skillet, from the heat, to add the eggs, and cream, otherwise you will end up with scrambled eggs, and not a nice, smooth sauce. One good thing is, for adding the cream...you will not have to use a lot of eggs, and save on fat, and cholesterol. You can use a mixture of butter, and olive oil to saute the onions, and the peppers, but the bacon grease gives it a nice, rich, flavor.