Spaghetti Alla Carbonara with duck eggs

Spaghetti Alla Carbonara image

Our ducks eggs are great in this recipe from The Fresh Egg Cookbook by Jennifer Trainer Thompson; duck eggs make the sauce a bit creamier than chicken eggs will.

Spaghetti Alla Carbonara

Ingredients: 

  • 1 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil
  • 8 ounces thickly sliced pancetta or bacon, cut into small cubes
  • 4 eggs
  • 1/2 cup freshly grated parmesan or  pecorino cheese, plus extra for sprinkling
  • 12 ounces spaghetti
  • salt and freshly ground black pepper

Serves 6

Directions:

  1. Bring a large pot of water to a boil for the spaghetti.
  2. Heat the olive oil in a large skillet over medium heat. Sauté the pancetta until crisp, about 10 minutes.. Remove from the heat and pour off all but 2 tablespoons of fat. if necessary, add 1 or 2 tablespoons of water to the skillet and scrape up any bits that have stuck to the pan. Lightly beat the eggs and parmesan in a bowl.
  3. Cook the spaghetti in boiling water according to package directions. Reserve 1/3 cup of the cooking water before draining. Add the pasta to the skillet and toss with pancetta and drippings. Add 2 to 4 tablespoons of reserved pasta water to lightly coat the bottom of the skillet. 
  4. Remove the skillet from the heat and add the egg mixture, tossing continuously until the pasta is lightly coated. If dry, add reserved water, 1 tablespoon at a time, until eggs coat the pasta in a smooth sauce. Season with salt and lots of pepper. Transfer the pasta to a large serving bowl and sprinkle with more grated parmesan cheese. 

Prevent illness with herbs!

a jar of herbs covered in apple cider vinegar and alcohol

I want to share with you a recipe I use ALL the time here on the farm, and at home. Here we call it CEEG, for Cayenne, Echinacea, Eleuthero, Garlic. It’s an immune-boosting tincture that I use on both animals and humans at the first sign of illness. While the recipe suggests using it in the winter, we use it year-round. I make mine with ever clear and apple cider vinegar and the dilute it before use. It is HOT! My kids do not like it at all. However, the animals don’t seem to mind it. We add it to water for a general immune boost and administer it orally as often as possible for more acute situations. It’s not a cure-all but it does seem to help the animals and people fight illness and is our first line of defense.

Find the recipe here: https://frugallysustainable.com/herbs-for-winter-health-a-recipe-for-hot-echinacea-tincture/

I get most of the herbs from Mountain Rose Herbs. While I can’t sell tinctures because of the alcohol content, I’m happy to create a tincture kit if you’re interested (I provide the herbs; you provide the fresh garlic and alcohol)!

Note: due to the garlic content, we don’t use it for our cats or our dog.