Spaghetti carbonara

Put a 12 inch saute pan full of water on the stove and bring it to a boil; a shallow pan boils far faster than a deep pot.

Warm a six and a half quart dutch oven over low heat.

Cut four thick slices of bacon in half, then each half in half skinny wise, and dice them small enough to render quickly but large enough to keep a meaty bite.

Add a little olive oil to the preheated dutch oven, then all the bacon, and stir to spread it out.

Salt the boiling water strongly and add the spaghetti, spreading it out, then push it under with tongs.

Simmer the pasta on high for eight minutes only - slightly undercooked.

Shred 50 g Parmigiano Reggiano and 50 g Pecorino Romano on the feather side of a box grater; a slightly thicker grate melts slower, which stops the sauce thickening before you can judge the eggs.

Add one whole egg and three egg yolks to the cheese and mix until it looks like polenta or very runny scrambled eggs.

Pre-grind the black pepper.

When the bacon is fully rendered and crisped, with no translucent flabby areas, move it to a plate and keep the fat.

Drain most of the bacon fat back into the pot over medium low heat, add the cracked black pepper and stir to toast it off, scraping up the fond so it does not burn.

Taste the pasta at eight minutes for pre-al dente, just a touch of crunch in the middle.

Ladle about 300 ml of pasta water into the bacon pot and scrape with a wooden spoon to deglaze, 10 to 15 seconds maximum.

Move the spaghetti across with tongs and reserve about 500 ml more pasta water.

Stir 100 ml of the pasta water into the egg cheese mixture to temper the eggs so they are less likely to scramble.

Add another 100 ml to the pot so the pasta sits in about an inch and a half of liquid, stir for extra starchiness, and simmer 90 seconds.

Take the pot off the heat, add the bacon and any fat from the plate, then the egg cheese mixture, and stir vigorously with tongs so the eggs cook and the cheese melts evenly.

If the sauce is loose, return it to the lowest possible heat and stir constantly 30 to 60 seconds until it goes from wet to velvety; past that it turns gloppy and then scrambles.

Top with the bacon from the pot, a big pinch of aged Parmesan and a few cranks of black pepper.