Chicken Carbonara

When I first married my husband, believe it or not, I couldn't really cook. Like...I didn't know how. It was pretty sad how I survived through college. I won't go there and spare you the gory details. Haha. But after I got married, I knew I needed to figure it out so we wouldn't both starve. I watched a lot of Food Network the first few months. It actually helped me learn a few things.

I have mentioned before that I'm a fan of Italian food. I could eat pasta pretty much every day, if that was even remotely healthy. I also don't know if my husband would go for that. He likes pasta too, but he also likes variety. Haha. But I digress. This recipe is an adaptation of a Giada De Laurentiis recipe I saw once in ym many hours of studying Food Network. It looked really good. I tried it, and it was amazing. The original recipe can be found here: http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/giada-de-laurentiis/chicken-carbonara-recipe/index.html

I will share my little changes as well. Because, you know I can never leave a recipe alone. Haha. So here we go.

Ingredients:
-1-2 tablespoons olive oil-just a glug for the bottom of the pan
-6-8 slices of bacon (you can use pancetta if you want, and if you can find it)
-1 tablespoon garlic powder (it's just easier than mincing fresh garlic)
-2 1/2 cups heavy cream
-1 cup grated parmesan
-8 egg yolks
-1 tablespoon dried basil (instead of fresh. I always have this in my cabinets, and I think it still tastes fine)
-1 tablespoon dried parsley (same as basil)
-1 lb spaghetti (one regular package)
-2 chicken breasts, cooked and shredded (I think this is plenty. A whole rotisserie chicken just isn't necessary in my opinion)

Directions:
Boil a large pot of water and cook the spaghetti until just tender. Drain and set aside. While the pasta is cooking, separate 8 eggs into whites and yolks, only using the yolks for this recipe. If you don't have an egg separater gadget, you can use the egg shells to separate them. Crack the egg over a bowl, and as you "open" the egg, let the yolk stay in one side or the other. Then "pour" the yolk into the other side of the shell, letting the white fall into the bowl. Repeat as many times as necessary to get the yolk all by itself. Be very gentle, though, because you don't want to break the yolk while separating it. That will make it very difficult. Haha. Do this with all 8 eggs. When the eggs are separated, dump the yolks into a large bowl, and then add the cream, parmesan, garlic, basil, and parsley. Whisk it together until well combined.
In a large pot over medium heat (I actually used the same one I cooked the pasta in, after I poured it into my strainer to drain it), pour a glug of olive oil in the bottom (about 1-2 tablespoons). Cook the bacon in the oil till it's all cooked and kinda crispy and yummy. You can drain it a bit if you want, but I didn't. Dump the chicken in with it, and stir it around to evenly disperse the bacon into the chicken. At this point, you dump the cream and egg mixture into the other yummy goodness going on in the pot. Stir it all up, and then toss in the pasta. That means, dump the pasta into the pot, and then stir it all up with the "sauce." You'll need to keep stirring it for about 4-5 minutes. That lets the cheese melt, the eggs cook, the sauce thicken, the chicken to heat through, and the sauce to coat the noodles really well. Don't let it boil, because that can do bad things for the eggs. If you stir it pretty regularly, it shouldn't be a problem. When everything looks good, serve it in a large bowl. Or just scoop it directly into individual servings. It makes the wait to eat shorter. ;)

I don't do the whole fruit and nut deal that Giada does. I don't think it's needed. That, and I don't really like nuts, and I always end up getting the pith (the bitter white part of the peel) if I try to zest some citrus-y fruit, so...I don't wanna ruin the yumminess of this pasta with all that. Haha. It's fine just by itself. Enjoy!