Spontaneous generation of dinner: pasta carbonara

We often think we have nothing to make for dinner when that is actually far from the truth. A few nights ago, I had planned to defrost some Chicken Makhani and serve it with basmati rice, naan, and roasted asparagus, but plans changed and I had to give my daughter dinner before the adults ate so she could be in bed at a reasonable hour. The meal I had planned is a favorite of hers, so I decided to save it for another day so she would not miss out.

I was left to come up an impromptu grown-up meal. We were a little low on vegetables because I had just made a vegetable “lasagna” the day before so I could use up the zucchini, red pepper, spinach, and mushrooms that were inconveniently reaching the end of their usefulness at the same time. Other than the asparagus that was spoken-for, I did have some romaine lettuce, so a salad then pasta seemed logical. Since the “lasagna” had zucchini in place of noodles, I didn’t feel terrible serving a pasta dish the next day. But I didn’t feel like another tomato sauce at all.

Stuffed in a corner of the freezer, I found a quarter of a pack of bacon. Not much, but this is a perfect example of why not to feel like something is too small to save. This is especially true because a little bacon goes a long way. I also had a chunk of Pecorino Romano, but had just run out of parmesan (the lack of which disqualified some of my other simple pasta stand-bys. A few issues ago, Cook’s Illustrated did a carbonara that used these main ingredients, plus pasta, garlic, and eggs which I also had.

It doesn’t look like much! But it makes a satisfying, if not restaurant-quality meal with what basically amounts to basic staples plus ingredient odds and ends. We started with a simple green salad and didn’t feel bad polishing this off between us. The recipe below is inspired by the magazine’s approach, but I did make some adjustments to simplify things and cut down on potential waste.

And if you don’t have Pecorino Romano, parmesan or a blend of hard Italian cheese would definitely work.