Pasta Carbonara – National Bacon Day

December 30th is National Bacon Day, not that you need an excuse to eat bacon. I like my bacon straight up or on a burger but my favorite bacon recipe is Pasta Carbonara.

This satisfying pasta dish is simple to make and I almost always have the ingredients on hand. The Carbonara sauce is rich and not for the health conscious but a reasonably small portion with a nice salad makes a nice meal. I have also added brussels sprouts or broccoli to the recipe for a healthier variation.

The traditional Pasta Carbonara recipe does not call for cream but a little cream never hurt anything. You can use half and half or heavy cream depending on what you have on hand. I am not a bacon snob and this recipe is fine with regular bacon. I would not use maple flavored bacon but peppered bacon would probably be very good.