This Curry Carbonara mixes the exotic spice of curry with creamy egg yolks in this really easy pasta recipe. A textbook Carbonara consists of 4 classic elements: egg yolks, cheese, bacon and black pepper. I am experimenting tonight with some Szechuan peppercorn, a Chinese ingredient that has a signature numbing sensation on the palate. I thought that the Szechuan peppercorn would be an interesting fit with the curry spices. 

For this recipe, I used:

• 165g pasta (I used rice pasta since it was all I had on hand, use spaghetti)
• 85g asparagus* (optional)
• 1/2 teaspoon Szechuan peppercorns, freshly ground
• 1/2 teaspoon curry powder (Madras or S&B)
• 3 large egg yolks
• 4 rashers bacon

Start by cutting up the bacon into little quarter inch pieces and frying them til crispy. Drain on paper towels and set aside. Start boiling the pasta in a large pot of salted water. On the last minute or so of cooking, blanch the asparagus for 60 seconds then set aside. When the pasta is al dente, take out of the water (don’t strain it) and put it into a large mixing bowl. Add the bacon the asparagus and toss lightly. Add the rest of the ingredients and continue to mix until combined. Salt and pepper to taste and that’s it. Serve up and enjoy!

**notes:

A few things with this recipe…

One: The Szechuan peppercorns would go really nice with a more prominent spicy kick. Next time, I think I will add some chili flakes.

Two: The curry blend should be more subtle. Perhaps half the amount and see what happens. 

Three: use spaghetti. The rice noodles don’t hold up very well to being tossed with tongs. They broke and end up looking like sh*t. Tasted good, but I guess I’m a stickler for details.