Sunday is marathon day.
Gulp.
I’ve been training for months. But not quite as hard as I could have, perhaps. The longest run I’ve done in preparation is 18 miles. People keep telling me that’s fine: if I can do that in training, I can do the extra 8.1 miles on the actual day. I choose to believe them… I desperately want to believe them. But if the worst comes to the worst and I just can’t run anymore, I will walk, hobble or crawl over that finish line! Whatever it takes to honour the £2555 my family, friends, colleagues and blog readers have donated to Cancer Research UK.
The other thing I’ve been doing for months is eating pasta. Am I sick of it? Hell, no. I could survive on the stuff. Though perhaps not on carbonara. If I tried to survive on that, I’d get really fat, really quickly. Carbonara is a treat. One which I am having tonight, as it happens. This is how I like to make mine…
Carbonara
(serves 2)
Olive oil
1 onion, sliced thickly
100g bacon lardons
2 egg yolks
50ml single cream
Handful of parmesan cheese
Salt and pepper
175g tagliatelli
1/2 small lemon
- Fry the onion gently in olive oil until golden brown. Set aside.
- Increase the heat and fry the bacon lardons until crispy. Drain and set aside.
- Add the egg yolks, cream, a little salt and a good pinch of pepper to a bowl and whisk gently to combine.
- Cook the pasta in plently of boiling salted water. Drain and toss immediately with the cream mixture, the cheese and a little squeeze of lemon. Stir through the onions and bacon.
P.S. There’s still time to sponsor me for the Loch Ness Marathon. Just visit:
http://www.justgiving.com/Wendy-Harrison
A Wee Bit of Cooking 
Yum. Can I have that for second lunch??
Oh , that sound’s good . And it’s exactly how I used to make it , too , till the cholesterol police took over . But , luckily there are hundreds of other lovely things to do with pasta ….
Your legs , well trained but not tired out , will cope beautifully on Sunday . Good luck!!
Love carbonara-but if I were you stay away from rich foods like cream until after race day…only Paula Radcliff gets away with those types of mishaps!!x good luck!!
Best of Luck, Wendy!
Just Perfect
I give two egg yolks per person 🙂
Oh, lots and lots of luck and cheering coming from this part of the country! You can do it!
Good luck on Sunday!
Cancer is a horrid disease. I had a younger brother who pasted away when he was 34 with it.
Good luck to you on Sunday. It is a wonderful thing that you are doing. I will be thinking of you and saying a few prayers. May your legs have wings!
Excellent Carbonara :O)
Hope the race went well x
Funny that this is a dish that I miss from living in scotland. They called is Morrish food aka comfort food. While travelling Denmark this summer I ate alot of it too. 🙂
Looks very good.
I loved it. This looks simply yummy.
Well done with your run and for the excellent Blog. Some of your pictures are fantastic!
I too am Scottish but live far, far away (London 🙂 )but am now married to a very pernickety Italian who always gets super prstrated at ‘carbonara’ like you make. He points out that the above is not carbonara! Carbonara should never contain cream!!!
His authentic Italian Carbonara as follows:
Pancetta
Garlic
Parmesan – Grated
Eggs
Black pepper
Fry some garlic cut into thin slices (adds to the look) in a small splash of good Olive Oil. After about 2-3 mins add Pancetta and cook to your desired texture. I personally prefer crispy.
Whilst doing this boil some long pasta. He prefers Fettuccelle No.6 from De Cecco.
Drain pasta and add to pan with the pancetta and carlic and mix. Crack one egg per person over the top of the pasta / pancetta and mix quickly to cook the eggs with the heat of the pasta. Add half of the parmesan and some ground black pepper.
Serve and top with the remainder of the parmesan and some more black pepper.
Wolf the whole lot down!
I must admit that I love the authentic and plus point it that there is a lot less calories by excluding the cream. Big plus!!