Can Bacon Be Replaced?

One of my favorite things to do is to make pescatarian versions of dishes that have always looked, smelled, and sounded good to me, but that are not traditionally things I can eat.  Some of these attempts have been wildly successful; others have been less so.  Tonight, I tried something I have always wanted to eat: spaghetti alla carbonara.  But I tried to make it without its principle ingredient: bacon.

A traditional carbonara is made with crispy bacon - pancetta specifically - in a creamy egg sauce.  Basically, garlic, bacon, egg.  Very simple, but the bacon obviously plays a large role in the flavor profile.

I was forced to ask the question: what does bacon bring to the party, and more importantly, how can I replace that to get as authentic a dish as possible.  First of all, bacon adds fat to the dish.  So how can I add a little fat while still keeping it authentic?  I chose to supplement my sauce with a bit of heavy cream.  Secondly, bacon adds smokiness.  A little liquid hickory smoke took care of that in mine.  Finally, using crispy bacon adds a crunchy element for some texture.  This was the biggest hurdle for me, and I chose to use a totally different ingredient for this: toasted pine nuts.

Spaghetti Alla Carbonara (The Pescatarian Version)
1/2 lb boxed spaghetti
4 cloves garlic, finely smashed
1/4 cup heavy cream
4 large eggs, beaten
1/4 tsp liquid hickory smoke
1 small hand full pine nuts
Salt, pepper, red chili flakes, to taste
Freshly grated parmesan cheese
While you are making your spaghetti, add about a tablespoon of olive oil to the bottom of a pan, and lightly toast your pine nuts, making sure not to burn them (about 2-3 minutes at most).  Add the garlic and red pepper flakes and saute until the garlic starts to brown.  Turn the heat off, and whisk in heavy cream and liquid smoke.  Add the pasta when it is nicely al dente and mix it in, then, making sure the stove is still off, stir in the eggs.  The residual heat of the pasta will turn your mixture into a very creamy sauce, but if the pan is on, it will scramble the eggs.  This won't ruin the taste, but will definitely not give you the look or mouth feel you want.  Finally, add salt and pepper to taste, and grate parmesan cheese on top.  If you don't run out of eggs like I did, add a whole egg yolk to the top of the pasta for a lovely effect when you cut down into it.

All in all, the taste (I was assured by non-pescatarians in attendance) was fairly authentic, and an altogether pleasant experience.  So there, who really needs bacon anyway?