Eating Alone with Friends

On the all-too-rare occasions that I have an evening in on my own, I usually turn to my three bestest friends for company: bread, cheese, and wine.  However, given the frigid weather of late--and the endlessly broken and repaired and rerepaired boiler in my building--I decided that something hot was indicated.

I'd made pasta with eggs before, but the eggs were always accompanied by bacon, teaming up for a deliciously artery-shattering carbonara.  Since I was going to be solely responsible for the dishes resulting from this particular dinner, I decided to simplify, dropping the bacon and--more important--the pan that would wind up greasily in the sink.  Yes, there's a pan involved here, but frying bacon is a whole other kettle of...um...pork products. 


The principle if not unlike a carbonara, except that the egg is lightly fried in seasoned oil before being tossed with the pasta and cheese.  It turned out to be a lovely little meal: warm, rich, creamy, and, accompanied by a glass or two of wine, thoroughly satisfying. And, it occurs to me, it's a meal with the friends mentioned above,  just in winter guises.

 pasta
olive oil
 red pepper flakes
a clove or two of garlic, chopped
1 egg
tons of grated cheese
salt, pepper

Cook a single serving of pasta.  I particularly like linguini fini.

Heat a splash of olive oil over medium heat.  Add red pepper flakes and garlic, stirring occasionally, until garlic softens.  Break egg into pan (or into a bowl, then into the pan--much easier).  Cook until white is almost set.  Pour entire contents of pan over pasta. Toss with a great deal of  Parm or Romano. Salt and pepper to taste.  It suddenly occurs to me that a handful of chopped parsley mightn't be bad here, either.