Pasta Carbonara

I found this recipe via the Pioneer Woman while browsing for a quick, easy pasta recipe that wouldn’t require an hour-long trip to the store. This recipe did the trick. It’s quite tasty—though next time I make it I would reduce the amount of bacon by about half. It was just too much for me to handle! But overall, this was really yummy and really easy to make. The below recipe makes four servings—I halved it, so don’t get confused by the amounts in the pictures!

Pasta Carbonara

1 lb. pasta (I used spaghetti, but you could also use linguini or any pasta, really)
4 eggs
1 lb. bacon or pancetta (I used turkey bacon because it’s all I had on hand, but I wouldn’t recommend it for this recipe)
1 1/2 cups parmesan cheese
8-12 cloves of garlic
1 large onion
1 cup chicken stock
1 cup white wine (or substitute another cup of stock, which I did)
1/2 stick butter
1 handful of parsley
1-2 tablespoons black pepper

Slice up your bacon into 1-inch-wide pieces. Cook on your stovetop until nicely browned and crisp. Meanwhile, cook your pasta until al dente. Then, chop your onion (a rough dice is fine) and slice your garlic into thin slices.

When the bacon is done cooking, scoop it out with a slotted spoon and set it aside on a paper towel or plate. Reserve the bacon grease. Throw the diced onions in over medium-high heat for a couple minutes, then throw in your garlic and cook for another couple minutes. Remove the mixture from the pan with a slotted spoon, or drain it—either way, just get rid of the grease.

Put your empty pan back on high heat until it starts to smoke a little, then pour in your white wine, or 1 cup of your stock. Whisk thoroughly until the pan is deglazed. Then add 1 cup of stock. Return the bacon, onion, and garlic to the pan. Let simmer over medium heat.

Crack your eggs into a large bowl. Add most of the Parmesan cheese and rough chop the parsley, adding that as well. Leave a little Parmesan and parsley out for garnish. Mix it all together with a fork.

Add your still very hot cooked pasta (this is important—the pasta will essentially cook the egg, so it’s imperative that the pasta is super hot) to the egg mixture, then add the bacon/onion/garlic mixture. Then add 1/2 stick of butter and mix everything together. Sprinkle black pepper (to taste) on top. Garnish with parmesan and parsley.

———————————————-

Remember before you look at the pictures: I halved the recipe! I also don’t have pictures of every single step—sorry!

Don’t ask me why there are three eggs there…I have no idea. There should be two. The third egg is useless.

Cooking the lovely faux-bacon. This didn’t work super well because turkey bacon has so much less fat than real bacon, and therefore kind of messed with everything else. But it was probably a lot healthier! Use real bacon if you have it.

Deglazing the pan.

I can never find Italian flat-leaf parsley, and I always have such trouble chopping regular parsley into small pieces. I think I need better knives. The large pieces of parsley didn’t bother me at all in this recipe, though.

This is the point where you take your tongs and mix it all together. The butter will melt really quickly and the cheese will melt and it will all become instantly delicious.

Mmm, so good. Again, I’d suggest cutting out some of the bacon—unless you’re a big fan of bacon. Otherwise, this pasta was really delicious, filling, and a quick dinner fix that impresses. Enjoy!