Spaghetti Carbonara

Spaghetti, bacon, eggs, cream, parmesan, black pepper - It doesn't come much simpler than that! Tasty, too.

Spaghetti carbonara
  • Degree of Difficulty: Very Easy
  • Cost: $
  • Preparation Time: 5 minutes 
  • Cooking Time: 10 minutes  
  • Yields: 2 portions
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  • By: Nicolas Steenhout

Spaghetti Carbonara is a classic with many variations. My version uses very little cream, and some onions as well as pancetta bacon.

 
 

Recipe

Ingredients

  • 300g (3/4 pound) Fresh Spaghetti *
  • 4 slices of Pancetta Bacon *
  • 1 Medium Onion (optional)
  • 30ml (1 Tablespoon) vegetable oil
  • 3 Egg Yolks
  • 125ml (1/2 cup) Heavy Cream
  • Grated Parmesan Cheese (to taste)
  • Fresh Ground Black Pepper

You can substitute dried pasta if you don't have access to fresh pasta. You can also use regular bacon instead of pancetta if you can't find pancetta.

Carbonara is a relatively new dish to Italian cooking, it appears on the scene around the end of WW II. In Italy, it is not done using much cream, if any at all. It also doesn't use onions, but I like that variation.

Mise en place

  1. Cut the pancetta in small pieces.
  2. Dice the onion in pieces the same size as the pancetta.
  3. Separate the egg yolks. You can keep the whites to make meringue later!
  4. Mix the egg yolks with the cream.

Preparation

  1. Bring water to a boil in a large pot.
  2. While the water is heating up, fry the diced onion in a pan with a little bit of oil until soft.
  3. Add the pancetta to the onions, and cook for 2 minutes more. Reserve ( To set aside for later use.) [?].
  4. When the water is boiling, cook the pasta. With fresh pasta, count 3-4 minutes, otherwise about 7 minutes. Don't overcook the pasta!
  5. Drain the pasta in a colander.
  6. Add the onion and pancetta to the pasta.
  7. Add the cream and eggs, and mix well. The heat of the pasta will cook the eggs.
  8. Add a good amount of fresh ground black pepper.

Finition

  1. Plate and add a generous amount of fresh grated parmesan cheese.

Photos

Pancetta bacon slices
Pancetta bacon, rolled, in slices

Pancetta bacon, diced.
Pancetta bacon diced in small dices

Onions cooking in frying pan
Cooking the onions in a frying pan with a little oil until they become soft.

Cooked bacon and onion.
The onions and pancetta bacon, cooked and ready to go.

Egg yolks
Egg yolks in a small dish.

Egg yolks and cream
Cream added to the yolk before mixing and adding to the hot pasta

Finished spaghetti Carbonara
Finished Spaghetti Carbonara

Video

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This entry was posted on Monday, December 14th, 2009 at 15:00 and is filed under Recipes. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can skip to the end and leave a response. Pinging is currently not allowed.

 
 
 

As the days grow short, some faces grow long. But not mine. Every autumn, when the wind turns cold and darkness comes early, I am suddenly happy. It's time to start making soup again. Leslie Newman

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