Spaghetti Carbonara Recipe

Spaghetti carbonara is a wonderful dish – Italian bacon and eggs as my children refer to it. This is an easy to follow recipe for delicious carbonara. Enjoy!

SERVES 4

Ingredients:

300-350g of dried spaghetti
4 large eggs (essential), plus 2 extra yolks (optional)
Smoked bacon or, if preferred, lardons or pancetta. To keep things simple, I use around 8-10 rashers of bacon
10-12 tablespoons of double cream (single cream also works if you don’t have any double)
8 tablespoons of parmesan or pecorino romano cheese, finely grated (you can pre-buy grated for ease). Plus extra cheese for serving
Onion (optional)
Glug of olive oil
Salt and black pepper

Method:

Place a large pan of water on the hob and bring to boil.

Whilst the water is boiling, cut to bacon up into reasonably sized pieces, removing any rind. Onion isn’t typically included in carbonara so this is part is completely optional. Personally, I think it enhances the flavour quite a bit, plus I am a big fan of the onion!

Once the water has boiled add some salt and the spaghetti. Cook for 8-12 minutes. The packet should advice how long it needs cooking for.

Whilst the spaghetti is cooking, fry the bacon and onion in a little olive oil.

Whisk the eggs, extra yolks (optional though I think it adds to the taste) and cream in a bowl, and add a good twist of black pepper.

Drain the pasta once it has cooked and return it to the saucepan. Don’t worry about any excess water. Add the bacon and onion, plus the egg and cream mixture.

Put on a low heat and stir continually so that everything is well mixed. The heat of the spaghetti will lightly cook the eggs. You should only have to stir for 2-5 minutes.

Serve in pre-warmed bowls or on plates and add extra cheese and black pepper to taste.

The author originally published this recipe here: http://notecook.com/main-course/fish/spaghetti-carbonara-recipe/