Culinary Corner

Ingredients

10 oz of dried penne

12 oz of asparagus

4 large eggs

1 and 3/4 oz of parmesan, plus extra to serve

4 slices of smoked bacon

Method

Cook the pasta in a large pan of boiling salted water according to the package instructions. Meanwhile, snap the woody end o the asparagus, then slice the spears roughly the same length as the pasta,halving any thick spears lengthways.Separate the egg, putting the yolk into a bowl, then finely grate the cheese and mix(do not use the white of the egg you can keep it for something else).

Finely slice the bacon, then place in a large nonstick frying pan on a medium-high heat with 1 tablespoon of olive oil and a generous pinch of black pepper and cook for 4 minutes, or until golden and crisp.Add the asparagus to the bacon for 3 minutes, then drain the pasta, reserving a cupful of starchy cooking water.

Tip the pasta into the bacon pan, toss and stir everything together, then remove from the heat and wait 2 minutes for the pan to cool slightly (if too hot, the egg mixture will scramble). Loosen the egg mixture with a splash of cooking water, then pour over the pasta, tossing and stirring vigorously – the egg will gently cook in the residual heat.Season to perfection.

Adjust the consistency with extra cooking water, ifneeded, and finish with a pinch of pepper and an extra grating of cheese, if you like