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Every year on January 28th, the feast of St. Thomas Aquinas, we have a hearty, cheesy, comforting classic, pasta carbonara! It is probably my favorite pasta dish because I am just not sure there is anything better on this earth than cheesy pasta. In fact, I think it is so divine that he writes about it in the Summa. Yup, Summa Theologiae, Prima Pars (I), q. 15, a. 1. Are there divine ideas? Answer: Yes, pasta carbonara with bacon.
Delicious!
This is a saint that we love to honor given that many of my family members, including myself, have graduated from schools dedicated to St. Thomas Aquinas. After getting my Masters in Theology I was hungry for more, so I kept reading, studying, and discussing theology on my own time. I have St. Thomas to thank for that inspiration and much of what we learn as Catholics is due to his explanations and understanding. Yet even though he is a doctor of the Church, brilliant theologian, prolific writer, and holy man, he was incredibly humble about the depth of his knowledge. St. Thomas reminds us that we can learn about God and become great thinkers, but our own understanding will never fully be able to grasp the Creator of the universe.
At times I may take a more literal or cutesy approach to cooking for a feast day, but more times than not I try to go a little deeper with each saint. I want to eat as if I were in their home town with them. This is a very common dish from the Lazio region of Italy that he was from and so is Chianti wine. The perfect dinner pair!
Let's get started.
Prep Time: 5 minutes
Bake Time: 25 minutes
Yields: 4 servings
The Team
8 strips of bacon
12 ounces of pasta
2 eggs
1 cup shredded parmesan
2 garlic cloves, minced
Optional: salt and pepper to taste
Optional: parsley to garnish
Optional: olive oil to garnish
Begin by boiling the pasta in a large pot of salted water. Use the directions on your pasta to cook. I boiled mine for 8 minutes until it was al dente.
As your pasta is boiling, whisk together 2 eggs and 1 cup parmesan cheese in a medium bowl then set aside.
In a deep skillet, cook 8 strips of bacon over medium heat until crispy and set aside on a plate lined with a paper towel. Don't drain the bacon grease, leave it in the skillet.
The pasta should be about finished now. Before draining, reserve one cup of pasta water then drain the rest.
Add 2 cloves minced garlic into the skillet that you cooked your bacon in. Let it simmer for about 1 minute moving it around so that it doesn't burn.
Add your pasta to the garlic and toss it around until it is fully coated with the bacon grease.
Then pour in the egg and cheese mixture to the pasta, stirring continuously until it's creamy. The key is to frequently stir so that the eggs don't scramble.
As you are tossing the pasta begin to slowly pour in the 1 cup pasta water. This will really help the sauce to come together and keep the cheese from clumping too much.
Season with salt and pepper then with your hands crumble the bacon over the top of the pasta.
Serve into bowls then garnish with a little more parmesan cheese, parsley, and a drizzle of olive oil. Mmmm mm mmm!
Pour yourself a glass of Chianti and have the best dinner of your life. Don't thank me, thank St. Thomas.
Happy Feast Day, St. Thomas Aquinas! Did you make this recipe? If so I would love to see it, drop a picture in the comment or send it to me on social media Facebook @HisGirlSunday or Instagram @steffani_hisgirlsunday. For more resources on building Catholic tradition, check out the blog section of my website! If the liturgy is for you, then so is liturgical living.
See you in the Eucharist,
Steffani
His Girl Sunday
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