Carbonara à la España

Serves 4 to 6 as a first course

Level of difficulty: easy

Ingredients

1 pound dried pasta, your choice
1 tbsp olive oil
1 onion, chopped
3 cloves garlic, minced
3/4 lb Spanish chorizo, roughly diced
3½ cups shredded manchego
4 eggs
salt and pepper to taste
1 quart of water

Instructions

Boil water over high heat. Add pasta (spaghetti or linguine work well) and start cooking.

Heat 1 tbsp olive oil in a pan, add one onion chopped and 3 cloves garlic minced and sautee. Salt and pepper to taste. Roughly chop 3/4-1 lb of Spanish chorizo (hard cured) and let the fat cook out until slightly browned. Keep hot.

Grate about 3.5 cups of manchego into a bowl. Whisk 4 eggs and mix with cheese.

When the pasta is cooked al dente (or to your satisfaction) quickly drain it and put it back in the hot pot over low heat. While stirring quickly fold in the egg and cheese mixture. The cheese will melt and the heat of the pasta cooks the egg. Stir continuously.

While stirring pasta, bring the chorizo pan up to high heat quickly, and then add all the contents along with any oil/fat that has cooked out. Stir everything together.

The chorizo gives this traditional plate a beautiful orange color and adds a kick to the flavors.

Serve with warm crusted bread.

Complementary Wines: Cava, Ribera Del Duero, Rioja

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