Longanisa Carbonara

When Filipino food makes love to Italian food, you get Longanisa Carbonara. Longanisa (cured pork sausage) and eggs were a breakfast staple growing up, and carbonara is my go-to hangover food, so why the hell not?

Ingredients:

• 7 whole eggs separated (5 for sauce and 2 for topping)

• 1 cup of Parmigiano-Reggiano (plus more for serving)

• Kosher salt & pepper

• 1/4 cup of Italian flat-leaf parsley, chopped

• Extra-virgin olive oil

• 3/4 pound longanisa (or honestly, any pork product with fat)

• 10 cloves of garlic, finely chopped

• 1 pound of spaghetti or bucatini

Steps:

1. In a bowl, whisk together 5 eggs, parmesan, a hearty pinch of pepper, and most of the parsley (reserving some for garnish later). Set bowl aside.

2. Cook remaining 2 eggs (poached or fried). Set aside.

3. Start boiling salted water and drop your spaghetti to cook until al dente.

4. While the pasta is cooking, in a skillet, heat up 1/4 cup of EVOO, and sauté longanisa (or pork product) until fat renders and it begins to brown slightly. Add all the chopped garlic and sauté only for 1 minute (do not burn the garlic). Turn OFF heat.

5. Drain pasta and immediately add to the pork and garlic pan. Toss the pasta until the noodles are coated with EVOO/longanisa/garlic mix.

6. Pour in the egg and parmesan mix into the hot pasta, and immediately stir and mix everything together. The sauce will thicken up the more you stir, and you should end up with a creamy sauce.

7. Plate pasta, top with your poached/fried eggs, and garnish with extra parm and parsley.