We lived with Italians when we were living in London. They were Sam's friends from his school days in Rome. Everyone ended up in London after University. Anyway, we know how much passion goes into cooking pasta and how much work goes into preparing the perfect pasta dish. Yes, you can make an easy simple pasta dish, but it probably won't taste the same as what we were served back in those days. It seems like you have found 'almost' the authentic way of preparing Carbonara (would skip out on the chives, but it's adds colour and is your touch, so don't take our advice). Ah, we miss a well-prepared bowl of pasta!
Thanks for the recipe and glad you got to spend time with Mark and Bianca. Hope the mouse is gone!

✈️👫