Linguine Carbonara with a Twist

When I worked for Siemens in Thailand, my colleagues and I would head out to "Car Wash" this little restaurant which was pretty much located on top of a car garage. I still have no clue what the actual name of the restaurant was but they served the best pastas. One of their famous dishes was pasta with olive oil and garlic topped with dried red chilies. I enjoyed taking a bite of the zesty red chili along with my spoonful of pasta.

So try this and tell me if you like it.

For the Pasta

Linguine 

1Tbsp olive oil

Salt

For the Sauce

200gms shredded bacons

200gms mushrooms sliced

4 cloves garlic nicely crushed

300ml light cream

½ tsp dried oregano

½ cup Dry white wine

¼ cup Parmesan grated

½ tsp crushed black pepper

Garnishing

5-6 cloves garlic sliced

5-6 whole dried red chilies

Oil for frying

Crushed pepper

Chopped Parsley

Method:

Bring water to a boil, add salt and olive oil for about 15 mins or until cooked.
While the pasta is cooking, add a little olive oil in a non-stick or heavy bottom pan and add the shredded bacon. Cook till it is browned. Remove and set aside.
In the same pan, add a little more oil, throw in the crushed garlic, and mushrooms, cook for about 5mins and then add in the wine. Allow to cook until the all liquid has evaporated. Now add your bacon and mix.
In a bowl, mix the cream, Parmesan, oregano, pepper and a little salt (Careful we don’t want to add too much salt as the bacon is already quite salty).
Add the cream mixture to the mushroom and allow to cook till it thickens. About 5mins.
Drain your pasta and add it to the sauce. Mix well and serve on a plate.
In a small pan fry the garlic in oil for about a minute and throw in dried red chilis till they are well browned.

Garnish with chopped parsley and the fried garlic and chili.

Note: For a vegan version, omit the bacon completely.