Fresh Cavatelli with Eggs & Bacon

Last week, Joey sent me this recipe for pasta with eggs and bacon. We seemingly had all the ingredients at home so it was a great recipe to try.

On a whim, I decided to see if the local market had any fresh cavatelli. I was in luck and picked up a half pound of ricotta cavatelli (which means the pasta dough had ricotta in it) for the recipe. However, when I was getting ready to make it I decided that the 1/2 lb of pasta wasn't enough and added the remainder of some dried rotini I had in the pantry. The resulting different textures from the fresh pasta and dried added a new layer of deliciousness to the dish. But this would be cheaper if you just go with dried pasta...

I didn't exactly follow the recipe in terms of exact ingredients but I did follow the cooking instructions and the result was a very satisfying stick-to-the-bone macaroni and cheese esque pasta dish. Joey thought it needed something like maybe a few sprigs of basil to freshen it up. I can see that. I will add that next time. And oh yes there will be a next time.

Ingredients (the real recipe here)
1 T + 1/4 t salt, divided
2 T Olive oil
2 T Butter
8 oz bacon, cut into 1/2 inch pieces
5 large eggs
1/2 lb fresh cavatelli pasta
1/2 lb dried small noodle pasta such as penne or rotelli
1 C mozzerella cheese, shredded
1/4 C fresh parmesan cheese, shredded
1/4 C chopped fresh basil (opt.)

1. Bring a large pot of water to a boil
2. Meanwhile, shred cheese and slice bacon. Set aside.
3. Break the eggs into a bowl and add 1/4 t salt. Beat with a fork until the yolks are broken,
4. In a large skillet, heat olive oil over medium high heat. Add butter and melt.
5. Add the cut bacon to the skillet and cook until browned and crispy, stirring occasionally to get all sides browned (this took me like 10 minutes)
6. As the bacon starts to brown, add the dried pasta to the boiling water along with 1 T salt and cook 2 minutes.
7. Add the fresh pasta to the boiling water and cook an additional 4-5 minutes.
8. When the pasta is cooked, drain and add the noodles to the bacon mixture
9. Toss the pasta with bacon and coat in oil. Add the egg mixture and cook stirring 2 minutes or less until eggs are just scrambled and custardy. Turn off the heat.
10. Add the cheese to the pasta and stir until melted
11. Toss in the basil if using and serve immediately

*This is a picture of Rigatoni with Eggs & Bacon. We've made this now with rigatoni, cavatelli and linguine. The smaller or longer pastas work best--the rigatoni didn't stick well to it.