Spaghetti Carbonara

I absolutely love this recipe. My mother used to make this all the time when I was a child and my brothers (I have 5!) and I would eat so fast so we could get seconds before it was gone. I have since added some of my own personal favorites to the recipe, making it an even tastier dish. This is incredibly easy to make and is a healthy choice compared to many other recipes. The bacon, chives and sun-dried tomatoes really add a lot of complexity to the meal.

Spaghetti Carbonara

Ingredients

• ½ package bacon, crumbled
• 6 oz. Canadian Bacon, chopped
• 8 -9 oz. thin whole wheat spaghetti
• 8 oz. mushrooms, quartered
• 2 roma tomatoes, chopped (or ¼ cup sun-dried tomatoes, chopped)
• 1 teaspoon paprika
• 1 can evaporated milk (don’t use the fat-free)
• ½ cup fresh chives, chopped
• ¼ cup Parmesan cheese
• ½ tablespoon black pepper
• Salt and extra pepper as needed

Directions:

1. Boil water and cook pasta according to package directions.
2. Cook bacon and let cool on paper towel. Dump excess grease into tin can and place in the freezer for appropriate disposal.
3. Saute Canadian bacon in pan bacon was cooked in – there should be a little bacon grease left over. Saute mushrooms in the other pan with left over bacon grease (not the stuff in the freezer – the pan should still be slightly greased.) Add sun-dried tomatoes to mushrooms and cook another 1-2 minutes.
4. Drain pasta and place back in pot. Add evaporated milk and Parmesan cheese. Add paprika, pepper and chives. Mix well and add bacon, Canadian bacon, mushrooms and tomatoes.