Spaghetti Carbonara

When I was studying abroad in Nantes, France, I took the opportunity to do some traveling around Europe, as many of you know already. For spring break that year, some friends and I went to Italy where I discovered my favorite pasta dish of all time - Spaghetti Carbonara. Turns out they have it in France too, I just hadn't been paying attention. It quickly became my default order any time I happened to see it on the menu. When I got back from France, it became something of a personal quest to learn how to recreate it. I started with some recipes I found online and then adapted them to my liking. Here you go:

Ingredients:
1 pound spaghetti
8 ounces bacon, cut into 1-inch segments
3 large eggs
3/4 cup grated parmesan
1/2 cup half and half
garlic salt
Coarse salt & freshly ground pepper

Directions:
1) Cook spaghetti according to package directions in a large pot.
2) In a large skillet, cook bacon until crisp but not burnt (I sometimes have to start over with the bacon, oops!) then transfer to a paper towel lined plate.
3) While pasta is cooking, whisk together the eggs, parmesan and half-and-half. Season with the garlic salt as you prefer - the amount of garlic is something of a personal preference. Or you can use actual garlic and cook it with the bacon. It's entirely up to you. It's good both ways.
4) Once pasta is done, drain well but do not rinse. Transfer to a large bowl and immediately add the egg mixture. Stir rapidly - the heat from the pasta will cook the eggs but if you don't stir it, you end up with scrambled eggs instead of a creamy sauce.
5) Add the bacon, season with salt and pepper to taste, and toss to combine.

I hope you enjoy it as much as I do - it's pretty rich and you will have leftovers if you're only cooking for two people. Sometimes I try to split it but 1.5 eggs is a little hard to measure. :-)