The first time I had Pasta alla Carbonara was for brunch in Chicago at a restaurant named The Publican. I can still remember how amazing it was: the sauce, the bucatini, the pork belly, the parmesan… My mouth is watering just remembering. If you’ve never tried Carbonara and are an Alfredo person, trust me when I say that you will be converted. The biggest differences between the two is carbonara has a less heavy sauce and is made with eggs and some form of fatty cured pork (usually Bacon, Guanciale, or Pancetta).
There are two camps when it comes to making carbonara: heavy cream or no heavy cream. I like it a little creamier so I’m on the heavy cream side, but who am I kidding, I wouldn’t complain either way (^_^).
I mashed up the following recipes for this dish: Giada De Laurentiis, Mario Batali, and Pioneer Woman. If you want the more traditional purist route, you should follow Mario Batali’s recipe.
What You’ll Need:
- 1 lb Pancetta (bacon thick), sliced into 1 cm² pieces
- 6 Slices of Very Thinly Sliced Pancetta
- 1 L Shallot, Small Dice (onion is ok too)
- 1 Cloves of Garlic, Minced
- 4 Large Eggs, extra for garnish
- ½ Cup Heavy Cream
- 1 ¼ Cup Parmesan, Grated
- 1 lb Pasta of Your Choice
- Salt and Pepper
Fun Fact: I used a pasta called Fusili col Buco which translates to ‘holed rifles.” It is a spiral type pasta like normal fusili (coming from the word fuso that means spindle), but there is a hole that runs through the middle.
Step 1: Saute Garlic, Pancetta, and Shallot
Slice the Pancetta and saute until crispy. To save time and to enhance flavor, I threw in the garlic and shallot to cook when the pancetta was getting close to where I wanted it to be. Once crispy, set the pancetta mixture to the side.
Step 2: Boil Pasta
Boil the pasta based on your package or homemade instructions, drain, and return to pot. Reserve a cup of pasta water in case you need to thin out the sauce later.
TIP: Sometimes I look for little shortcuts and less dishes to wash. When it comes to pasta, I just pour out most of the pasta water, reserve some in small bowl in needed, and let the rest of the water evaporate when I put the pot back on the stove. You can thank Rachael Ray from her 30 Minute Meal days for that one (^_^).
Step 3: Make the Sauce.
While the pasta is cooking, stir together the eggs, heavy cream, and parmesan. Set Aside.
Step 4: Garnish.
Fry the super thin slices of pancetta and prepare an egg (sunny side up, over easy, poached) if you want. Set aside.
Step 5: Cook and Assemble.
Stir the liquid mixture into the pasta on medium-low heat. Make sure to continuously stir so the eggs do not curdle, if needed add some of the reserved pasta water. Stir in the pancetta mixture. I don’t usually add salt and pepper until this point since the pancetta and parmesan already add so much flavor. I usually only need to add a couple tablespoons of pepper, but salt and pepper to your tastes. Enjoy!
Variations: You can add peas to the carbonara or add in red pepper flakes when you add the shallot and garlic into the pancetta in Step 1.
- 1 lb Pancetta (bacon thick), sliced into 1 cm² pieces
- 6 Slices of Very Thinly Sliced Pancetta
- 1 L Shallot, Small Dice (onion is ok too)
- 1 Cloves of Garlic, Minced
- 4 Large Eggs
- ½ Cup Heavy Cream
- 1 ¼ Cup Parmesan, Grated
- 1 lb Pasta of Your Choice
- Salt and Pepper
- Eggs, optional for garnish
- Saute Pancetta, when almost crisp, add in the garlic and shallot. Once pancetta is crisp, set mixture to the side.
- Boil pasta, drain, and return to pot. Reserve one cup of pasta water if needed.
- Mix eggs, heavy cream, and parmesan in a separate bowl.
- Cook garnishes (thin pancetta, eggs).
- Stir pasta, liquid mixture, and pancetta mixture. Use some reserved pasta water if needed.
- Assemble.
I will def try this! anything with bacon and cheese, I’m in!