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Cooking adventures in a small, closet sized, kitchen. - I came to realize that my meals were boring and that I had been eating the same few dishes over and over again for years. It was time for a change! I now spend my free time searching for, creating and trying tasty new recipes in my closet sized kitchen.

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Pasta alla Carbonara

[heart_this] · Feb 21, 2008 · 24 Comments

Pasta alla Carbonara

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

Pasta alla Carbonara

Prep Time: 10 minutes Cook Time: 14 minutes Total Time: 24 minutes Servings: 1
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
  1. Start cooking the penne in well salted water.
  2. Fry the pancetta in a pan until just crispy.
  3. Add the garlic and saute until fragrant and remove from heat the heat.
  4. Mix the egg yolk, heavy cream and parmigiano reggiano in a bowl.
  5. Drain the cooked pasta reserving some of the water.
  6. Add the pasta to the bowl and toss.
  7. If the sauce is too thick add a bit of the reserved pasta water to thin.
  8. Add the pancetta, parsley and pepper and toss.
Similar Recipes:
Shrimp Carbonara
Asparagus Carbonara
Zucchini Carbonara
Butternut Squash Carbonara
Bolognese Spaghetti alla Carbonara
Ramp Carbonara
Spaghetti alla Carbonara with Peas
Quick and Easy Spaghetti Marinara
Roasted Cauliflower and Mushroom Carbonara
Roasted Asparagus and Mushroom Carbonara
Cajun Chicken Carbonara

Bacon, Food, Gluten-free, Italian, Main Course, Pasta, Recipe

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Reader Interactions

Comments

  1. Vicki says

    February 22, 2008 at 3:20 am

    Looks delicious, Kevin!

    Reply
  2. RecipeGirl says

    February 22, 2008 at 3:23 am

    My all time fave. Looks so yummy!

    Reply
  3. Patsyk says

    February 22, 2008 at 3:24 am

    That looks sooooo good! Might have to give it a try sometime.

    Great blog!

    Reply
  4. Manggy says

    February 22, 2008 at 3:28 am

    Wow, 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 🙁

    Reply
  5. Psychgrad says

    February 22, 2008 at 3:35 am

    This 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.

    Reply
  6. Jaime says

    February 22, 2008 at 4:05 am

    i love this dish! i don’t always have pancetta on hand so i will use bacon

    Reply
  7. Helene says

    February 22, 2008 at 6:24 am

    You are so right, you can’t go wrong. Looks good.

    Reply
  8. Allen says

    February 22, 2008 at 7:31 am

    Oh, this looks so good — rich and creamy.

    Reply
  9. Anonymous says

    February 22, 2008 at 7:47 am

    Nice picture, very classic Italian dish that goes down so smooth. And the pleasure of dipping some Ciabatta in the sauce remaining is good too.

    Reply
  10. Pixie says

    February 22, 2008 at 8:41 am

    We 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.

    Reply
  11. canarygirl says

    February 22, 2008 at 9:33 am

    Oh Yum! 🙂

    Reply
  12. Bellini Valli says

    February 22, 2008 at 12:41 pm

    No you can never go wrong with a great carbonara Kevin…love this stuff 😀

    Reply
  13. Ruth Daniels says

    February 22, 2008 at 12:55 pm

    It 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.

    Reply
  14. mycookinghut says

    February 22, 2008 at 1:02 pm

    Carnobara 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*!!

    Reply
  15. Peter M says

    February 22, 2008 at 1:50 pm

    Good job Kevin, carbonara hits the spot and it’s quick.

    Reply
  16. Karen says

    February 22, 2008 at 2:52 pm

    Pasta carbonara is the one meal that is a universal hit at my house. Your version is making me hungry!

    Reply
  17. Deborah says

    February 22, 2008 at 5:19 pm

    This looks amazing!

    Reply
  18. amysep says

    February 22, 2008 at 7:30 pm

    Looks 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!

    Reply
  19. Tania says

    February 23, 2008 at 2:01 pm

    Looks so good! How serendipitous to have all the ingredients for pasta alla carbonara just lying around! I should hang out in your fridge.

    Reply
  20. Cooking and the City says

    February 24, 2008 at 5:02 pm

    Kevin that looks so good 🙂

    Dell xo

    Reply
  21. Proud Italian Cook says

    February 26, 2008 at 5:06 am

    Carbonara, Mmmmm, yours looks sinfully good, Kevin!

    Reply
  22. katiez says

    March 2, 2008 at 11:02 am

    You 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?)

    Reply
  23. Anonymous says

    March 22, 2008 at 6:23 pm

    The 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.

    Reply
  24. z911 says

    December 11, 2008 at 3:48 am

    nooooooooo, no cream. everything else looks delicious!

    Reply

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Kevin: I came to realize that my meals were boring and that I had been eating the same few dishes over and over again for years. It was time for a change! I now spend my free time searching for, creating and trying tasty new recipes in my closet sized kitchen.
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