Carbonara is a classic Italian pasta dish.
Traditionally made with spaghetti, pancetta, eggs, cheese, and black pepper, it’s one of those meals that is really hard to resist. While I’ve eaten my fair share of carbonaras at Italian restaurants all over the place, I’ve never actually made the dish at home.
Theres an illusion out there that carbonara is hard to make. But I promise you, if you can boil water and use a whisk, there is nothing to be afraid of. The only step you may find intimidating is the tempering of the eggs before you pour them onto the pasta, but I’m telling you, keep reading and the complexities of tempering will be demystified.
Tempering eggs means adding small amounts of hot liquid to whisked eggs in order to slowly bring up their temperature. Without tempering the eggs, you’d end up with pasta mixed with scrambled eggs instead of carbonara, as the eggs would cook instead of forming a sauce. And that would be sorely disappointing.
Before posting this, I thought long and hard about whether the internet needed another recipe for carbonara. Ultimately, I came to the conclusion that if posting this encourages just one person to make carbonara at home, it’s totally worth it. Plus, the pictures were pretty.
As a side note, I did stray a little from the traditional: instead of pancetta, I used thick cut bacon because that’s what we had on hand, and it is a worthy substitute. I also added some crimini mushrooms and fresh peas to liven it up, but you can omit those if you’d like.
- 1 pound spaghetti
- Kosher salt
- 3 thick slices bacon, chopped into cubes
- 10 oz crimini mushrooms, quartered
- 1 cup peas, fresh or frozen
- 1 clove garlic, minced
- 4 eggs
- ¾ cup Parmesan, grated, plus more for serving
- Freshly ground pepper
- Bring a large pot of heavily salted water to boil. Cook spaghetti until al dente.
- Meanwhile, in a large saucepan over medium heat, cook bacon until slightly crispy. Stir in garlic, mushrooms, and peas and cook until mushrooms are tender. Turn heat to low.
- When pasta is done cooking, reserve ½ a cup of cooking liquid and drain the rest. Add pasta into pan with bacon and vegetables and toss to coat.
- In a large bowl, whisk together eggs. Slowly, add reserved cooking liquid to bowl while continuing to whisk, making sure that the eggs heat up without cooking (or turning into scrambled eggs).
- Remove pasta and vegetable pan from heat. Slowly add warm egg mixture to pasta, tossing spaghetti to coat. Add Parmesan and mix well. Top with freshly ground black pepper and serve immediately.
I agree it is super easy and the pictures are super beautiful :)
writes Girl and the Kitchen[…] 10 Main Dishes 10. Carbonara with Mushrooms and Peas – I think this is one I could even make on my own. So simple and so […]
writes Three Year Anniversary and Jason's Best Of Choices - Things I Made Today[…] like the classic carbonara, this recipe also uses the cooking water from the pasta to help thicken up and create a […]
writes Linguine with Olives and All of the Herbs - Things I Made TodayIf the eggs don’t cook, are you eating raw eggs?
writes Karl KGreat question – the eggs do cook, you just don’t want to dump a bunch of hot water in and scramble them! But they do cook from the heat, just much slower. Think poached eggs with runny yolks rather than scrambled eggs.
writes VickyMade this last night. Came out great! Excellent recipe!!! I am not one who fears “raw” foods (eggnog, tartar, sushi, ceviche). The trick is to use high quality, fresh stuff (e.g., local free-range, organic eggs). We’re socialized against, but the reality is that high quality raw foods are some of the tastiest and most healthy. Caio bella!
writes James Riordan