Instructions

Put the eggs and egg yolk into a bowl, finely grate in the Parmesan, season with pepper, then mix well with a fork and put to one side.

Cut the bacon into little squares and set aside.

Bring a large pot of salty water to boil for your pasta. If using dried pasta from the store, follow the instructions on the packet and start cooking the pasta now.

Meanwhile, take a medium frying pan and place it over medium-high heat. Throwing in the bacon bits, coarsely ground pepper and adding one tablespoon of extra virgin olive oil if the bacon is not fatty enough. Stir and cook for 3 minutes.

If using fresh pasta (that takes about 1 minute to cook) now is the time to cook it.

Peel the garlic, then crush it with the side of a knife and chop it finely, add it to the pan and leave it to flavour the fat for 1 minute until it starts to crisp up. (Don’t let the garlic turn brown or burn).

Instead of draining the pasta through a colander use tongs or a slotted spoon (depending on what pasta you use) to take the pasta out of the water and add it straight into the bacon (don’t worry about the excess water from the pasta, you want that in!) Toss well over the heat so it really soaks up all that lovely flavour, then removes the pan from the heat. The fat from the bacon and the pasta water should make a nice smooth sauce that will make the pasta nicely coated and hydrated. If it seems too dry add a splash of the pasta water and toss well.

Pour in the egg mixture – the pan will help to cook the egg gently, rather than scrambling it. Toss well, adding more pasta water until it’s lovely and glossy.

Serve with a grating of Parmesan and an extra twist of pepper.