Spaghetti Carbonara

Hey all, sorry for my extended absence. My little brother's wedding was awesome, but the 11-hour car ride home left me exhausted! Anyway, a recap of my trip is still to come, but for now, another sort of recap. As I thought of Sean and his new bride Melissa enjoying their Vegas honeymoon, it led me to reminisce about my own.

Years ago, when I was a grad student studying Italian art and architecture, I was fortunate to get to travel to Rome and take Tony with me. When we got married we were too poor to take a honeymoon immediately after our wedding -- so this trip, a year later, is what we now refer to as our honeymoon.

2003 - we were babies!

We did some sightseeing.

I did some research, which was basically...more sightseeing. (Ah, I loved grad school.)

We drank a lot of wine late at night and took tipsy self-portraits.

And, oh yes, we ate.

Tony still raves about the spaghetti carbonara he ate at a tiny restaurant somewhere outside the Vatican.

So, while I was thinking about all this, and I came across a carbonara recipe in Urban Vegan, I knew I had to give it a shot.

I have to say it's one of the most unappetizing-looking things I've ever eaten! I honestly don't know if I'll make it again because it just looks so gross. But the flavor was good. The sauce was very rich -- buttery and smoky at the same time. Tempeh bacon takes the place of the pancetta in the original so, texturally, it's quite different. Not being a bacon eater, it made no difference to me, and Tony liked it for what it was.

Buona sera!