I was looking in my fridge trying to figure out what to make for dinner when I realized that I had everything that I needed for pasta alla carbonara. The base carbonara sauce is made with egg yolks, parmigiano reggiano, pancetta (or another form of bacon) and black pepper. It can also include things like cream, shallots, garlic, herbs, mushrooms, meats, vegetables, etc. The thing that is interesting about the carbonara sauce is that the egg yolk is added to the sauce raw and it is cooked by the heat of the pasta that just came out of the boiling water. The heat of the pasta also melts the parmigiano reggiano into the sauce. Carbonara is super quick and easy to make. You can easily make the sauce in the time that it takes to cook the pasta. The carbonara sauce is nice and creamy and tasty. You really can’t go wrong with eggs, cream, cheese and bacon!
Pasta alla Carbonara
ingredients
- 1 serving penne (gluten free for gluten free)
- 1 ounce pancetta (diced)
- 1 clove garlic (chopped, optional)
- 1 egg yolk
- 1 tablespoon heavy cream (optional)
- 1/4 cup parmigiano reggiano
- 1 tablespoon parsley (chopped, optional)
- pepper to taste
directions
- Start cooking the penne in well salted water.
- Fry the pancetta in a pan until just crispy.
- Add the garlic and saute until fragrant and remove from heat the heat.
- Mix the egg yolk, heavy cream and parmigiano reggiano in a bowl.
- Drain the cooked pasta reserving some of the water.
- Add the pasta to the bowl and toss.
- If the sauce is too thick add a bit of the reserved pasta water to thin.
- Add the pancetta, parsley and pepper and toss.
Vicki says
February 22, 2008 at 3:20 amLooks delicious, Kevin!
RecipeGirl says
February 22, 2008 at 3:23 amMy all time fave. Looks so yummy!
Patsyk says
February 22, 2008 at 3:24 amThat looks sooooo good! Might have to give it a try sometime.
Great blog!
Manggy says
February 22, 2008 at 3:28 amWow, I love Carbonara when it’s cooked properly, and not to a lumpy cheesy mess (er, like Italian Mac and Cheese, haha). I just can’t serve it to my grandmother if it’s not cooked through, though 🙁
Psychgrad says
February 22, 2008 at 3:35 amThis looks great Kevin! I’ve never actually made a carbonara sauce. I’ll probably suffer from eating it, but it may be worth the pain.
Jaime says
February 22, 2008 at 4:05 ami love this dish! i don’t always have pancetta on hand so i will use bacon
Helene says
February 22, 2008 at 6:24 amYou are so right, you can’t go wrong. Looks good.
Allen says
February 22, 2008 at 7:31 amOh, this looks so good — rich and creamy.
Anonymous says
February 22, 2008 at 7:47 amNice picture, very classic Italian dish that goes down so smooth. And the pleasure of dipping some Ciabatta in the sauce remaining is good too.
Pixie says
February 22, 2008 at 8:41 amWe made carbonara last night after a long day out; it’s wonderful to come home and make a gorgeous dish within minutes! Looks great Kevin.
canarygirl says
February 22, 2008 at 9:33 amOh Yum! 🙂
Bellini Valli says
February 22, 2008 at 12:41 pmNo you can never go wrong with a great carbonara Kevin…love this stuff 😀
Ruth Daniels says
February 22, 2008 at 12:55 pmIt does look awesome. Thanks for sharing with Presto Pasta Nights.
I do hope you plan on sharing another great pasta for next week’s PPN one year celebration.
mycookinghut says
February 22, 2008 at 1:02 pmCarnobara is one of my favourites too! It makes me hungry by looking at it as it’s lunch time now in London even though I am muching away *LOL*!!
Peter M says
February 22, 2008 at 1:50 pmGood job Kevin, carbonara hits the spot and it’s quick.
Karen says
February 22, 2008 at 2:52 pmPasta carbonara is the one meal that is a universal hit at my house. Your version is making me hungry!
Deborah says
February 22, 2008 at 5:19 pmThis looks amazing!
amysep says
February 22, 2008 at 7:30 pmLooks great! But, I’m kind of a purist (or try to be!) with Italian food – traditionally carbonara should never be made w/ cream. I think Americans redid this classic Italian dish and added cream. You’ll now see it with cream in many Italian-American restaurants. I totally understand why they do it – everything tastes better w/ cream! But, if you eat carbonara in Italy, you will never ever find it creamy – eggs and cheese only!
Tania says
February 23, 2008 at 2:01 pmLooks so good! How serendipitous to have all the ingredients for pasta alla carbonara just lying around! I should hang out in your fridge.
Cooking and the City says
February 24, 2008 at 5:02 pmKevin that looks so good 🙂
Dell xo
Proud Italian Cook says
February 26, 2008 at 5:06 amCarbonara, Mmmmm, yours looks sinfully good, Kevin!
katiez says
March 2, 2008 at 11:02 amYou are so right: One can’t go wrong with cheese, cream, bacon and pasta! (Well, accept for that ‘heart-attack-on-a-plate’ thing, but we don’t eat it every day, do we?)
Anonymous says
March 22, 2008 at 6:23 pmThe photograph is beautiful. I know I am late coming to this post, and not the first to say this: there is NO CREAM in carbonara. NO CREAM. Parmesian and bacon have very strong flavors, the cream is an unnecessary addition. Put the right proportions of the other ingredients, and LEAVE THE CREAM OUT.
z911 says
December 11, 2008 at 3:48 amnooooooooo, no cream. everything else looks delicious!