I confess: I've been terribly afraid of making carbonara. I love it so much, but the idea of myself trying to cook eggs with nothing but hot pasta scared me. A lot. So... I just never made it. Then, a few days ago, I decided to be brave. Despite my husband's skepticism and jokes of omelet pasta, I made it.

Wow. This was delicious. And as much as I fretted, it really was one of the easiest pasta dishes I've made in quite some time. You need to make it. Like, now.

Linguini Carbonara
Recipe adapted from Pioneer Woman/Pastor Ryan
Serves 2-3
Cook & Prep Time - about 20 minutes

INGREDIENTS*
1/2 lb linguini noodles
4 TBSP butter, divided
1-2 TBSP olive oil
1 small onion, diced finely
5 cloves garlic, crushed (or minced)
1/2 cup white wine
1/2 cup chicken stock
2 eggs
3/4 cup Parmesan cheese
salt & pepper, to taste

DIRECTIONS
Bring a big pot of salted water to a boil. While bringing the water to a boil, chop up your onions and garlic.

Crack the eggs in a bowl and get them ready to mix together with the Parmesan cheese (I mixed them in my food processor).

Drop pasta in the water and cook to al dente. It's very important that the noodles stay in the boiling water until right before you mix them with the sauce. The noodles have to be really hot.

Melt 2 TBSP butter with 1-2 TBSP olive oil over medium heat in the bottom of a big pan. Add the onions & garlic and season with salt & pepper, to taste. Once the onions soften, increase the heat to medium-high and add wine to deglaze the pan. Cook until the alcohol burns off and the liquid reduces by about half.

Add the chicken stock and turn down the heat to medium-low. Cook until the noodles are done.

In the meantime, mix together the eggs and Parmesan. Even though I did this in my food processor, I'm sure a whisk would work, too.

When the pasta is done, quickly drain it and return it to the pot. Immediately add the egg mixture and toss for several seconds. Add the liquid, onions and garlic from the pan and toss for a few more seconds. Then, add remaining 2 TBSP butter and toss until the butter melts and is combined. Season with pepper, to taste.

Top with grated Parmesan cheese.

*I'm aware that a carbonara normally has bacon in it. I don't like bacon. So I left it out.