Carbonara Alfredo Sauce

I participated in the 2017 North Central Latin Club Spaghetti Sauce Cook-off, as I have every year for about 10 years now, since I helped start the event when I was a student there.  As well as participating in the event itself and providing music entertainment, I also made a sauce.  You may remember that I won it one year, when I made my grandmother's traditional alfredo sauce.  This year, I decided to try something completely new, that I had not seen anyone else attempt.  I made a carbonara alfredo sauce... basically my version of a combination of two delicious sauces.  I mean, what could be better than copious amounts of both bacon and cheese?!

I forgot to get a picture of the sauce when it was finished, so there won't be a picture with this one... but it really did come out tasty.  I encourage you to try it and let me know how it comes out!

Carbonara Alfredo Sauce

by Brandon Signorino

Ingredients:
- ½ lb bacon, chopped into 1-inch strips
            `-> (pre-cooked bacon works well in this recipe, but fresh is obviously fine!)
- olive oil, if using pre-cooked bacon (just enough to crisp the bacon and sauté onions)
- ½ small onion (thinly sliced – I used a mandolin)
- ~3 tbsp garlic (minced)
- ~1 qt half & half (use heavy cream if you want a thicker sauce)
- 1-2 cups grated romano cheese
- 5 egg yolks (have them already separated into a medium mixing bowl)
- ½ lb frozen peas, completely thawed (canned works, if necessary)
- salt, white pepper, and dried parsley (to taste)

Procedure:
1.) Heat a large saucepan over med-high heat.  If using pre-cooked bacon, add enough olive oil to just coat the bottom of the pan, then crisp the bacon.  If using fresh bacon, simply cook the bacon.  You will use the rendered bacon fat to sauté the onions.
2.) Once the bacon is crispy, add onions & garlic and sauté until the onions are soft and the garlic is lightly toasted.
3.) Add the half & half, and heat until it is simmering, stirring frequently.  Once bubbles begin to appear, turn heat to low.
4.) Slowly add grated cheese, stirring constantly.  Make sure there are no lumps of cheese.  Once the cheese is incorporated, keep heat on very low and let simmer for at least 30 minutes, stirring occasionally to keep from burning.
5.) Have the bowl of egg yolks ready, as well as a whisk; this next part must be done very efficiently, to avoid overcooking the eggs.  After letting the sauce simmer, turn the heat off.  Take a ladleful of it and add it to the mixing bowl with the egg yolks.  Immediately whisk to combine.  Move over to the saucepan, and gradually add the egg mixture to the sauce, whisking to incorporate.  Do not stop moving the whisk.  This part is very important, as you are tempering the eggs without scrambling them.
6.) Once the egg has been incorporated (you should not see any floating bits of egg yolk), add the seasonings and the peas to the sauce and combine well.  Serve over any pasta.

Notes:
- Try this recipe using bacon Spam diced into small cubes instead of real bacon… it crisps up the same way and is less messy than bacon, plus it is delicious.  Try it, and I promise you will be surprised how good it is!