PASTA CARBONARA

I was wanting to make a pasta carbonara dish and was doing a little research, and realized that the authentic recipes are nothing like a pasta carbonara dish you would order at an American-Italian Restaurant. There's no heavy cream, or wine, or peas in the sauce ( I still added them), but rather the sauce is just uncooked egg! My recipe is still not completely authentic but it was so delicious. And actually pretty healthy when you think about it! My substitutions included using Whole Wheat pasta, Turkey Bacon, and adding Peas. All together it took me about 30 minutes to make!

PASTA CARBONARA

INGREDIENTS

 1 Tbsp olive oil or unsalted butter

1/2 pound pancetta or thick cut bacon, diced

1-2 garlic cloves, minced, about 1 teaspoon (optional)

3-4 whole eggs

1 cup grated parmesan or pecorino cheese

1 pound spaghetti pasta (or bucatini or fettuccine)

Salt and black pepper to taste

DIRECTIONS

 

1. Bring water to a boil.

2. Heat the olive oil in a large sauté pan over medium heat. Add the bacon or pancetta and cook slowly until crispy. Add the garlic (if using) and cook another minute, then turn off the heat and put the pancetta and garlic into a large bowl. 

3.In a small bowl, beat the eggs and mix in about half of the cheese.

4. Once the water has begun boiling, add the pasta, and cook, uncovered, continuing to boil. When the pasta is al dente, use tongs to move it to the bowl with the bacon and garlic. 

5.  Move the pasta from the pot to the bowl quickly to keep the pasta hot. Just before adding the egg mix to the pasta, add one teaspoon of the hot pasta water to the egg mix. Toss everything to combine. Add salt to taste.

Serve with the rest of the parmeasan and black pepper. Enjoy!

Recipe adapted from SimplyRecipes

-Jerica-

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