Pasta con Uova e Formaggio or Egg Pasta

I know, it has been forever since I shared a recipe, but I just finished my M.A. and have a little more time for some hobbies like cooking.  So without further ado, here's the recipe for what we call Egg Pasta.

This recipe is very versatile, takes less than 20 minutes to prepare, and holds up well to experimentation.  Here are the basics:

1/2 lbs. of small pasta (small maccheroni, elbows, small shells, stars, etc. all work great)

2 eggs, beaten to mostly uniform consistency

6-8 leaves of fresh basil, ripped or diced

1/4 cup grated parmigiano reggiano cheese

2 T olive oil
salt and pepper to taste

Directions:

Boil water with a medium amount of salt.  Cook pasta until it is a little harder than al dente, or about 2 minutes shorter than its normal cooking time.  Drain the water slowly from the pot using the lid, leaving enough water so that the water still barely covers the top of the pasta.  Pour in the eggs and cheese.  Stir until the eggs are thoroughly mixed in (about 30 seconds).  Then add basil, olive oil, and salt and pepper.  And now you're ready to eat.

Variations:

You can change the feel of this dish a lot by using different types of pasta, leaving extra water for a more soupy texture, changing the cheese (pecorino romano and gruyère are excellent alternatives), changing the pepper (black pepper is nice, but I prefer crushed red pepper), substitute rosemary for basil, and last but certainly not least, adding extra greens such as spinich, kale, or arugula.  If you want to add the greens, add them after the eggs and before the cheese, which will give them time to cook down some before serving.  Enjoy!

pictured above with spinach, parmigiano, and black pepper