I honestly think that you can eat Pasta Carbonara for breakfast and do not fill horrible by doing so. It is a beautiful dish to serve, especially for brunch. It had eggs, bacon (if you are going to go super traditional you would do guanchale, but cannot find that around here) or pancetta, and LOADS of creamy parmesan cheese (you can do a double whammy and use pecorino AND parmesan). You can do this as an easy weeknight meal. You have ALL of these ingredients. The one you might have to think about is bacon. But, let’s be real with ourselves. It is never a chore to go to the grocery store for bacon.
In all, this dish – which can be a family favorite- is easy, and the most difficult thing to do is cook up bacon (and try not to eat it first) while you are boiling pasta.
Here’s my recipe for a traditional(ish) carbonara
Like I said before, this recipe is super simple. You can pump up the amount of ingredients for more servings.
Servings: 5-6 (depends if you have seconds)
Time: 15-20 minutes (you are waiting mostly for the pasta/bacon to cook)
Ingredients:
- 1 lb of bacon (hence the -ish)
- 2 large eggs
- 6 egg yolks
- 1 lb of pasta; I used feettucini
I wanted to use bucatini (since it has the hole in the middle so that the sauce can get inside) but any pasta would do. I would recommend any long pasta. I wholeheartedly recommend bucatini. - Kosher salt & freshly ground pepper to taste.
The bacon (pancetta or guanchale would be salty, so don’t overdo it with the kosher salt! - 1/2 of Parmesan (plush garnish)
You could use a combo of Parmesan and Pecorino. Pecorino is salty, so careful, again with the kosher salt. I had parmesan at homes, so I used that. In my humble and super honest opinion, if you add more cheese, be my guest. I won’t tell anybody.
How to:
- You need to prepare a pot for the pasta. Bring to a bow.! Cook the bacon in a large skillet (I used my All Clad 12 inch) until the bacon is cooked. Around 5 minutes. Set in a bowl, reserve the bacon fat.
I had 2 pounds of bacon, so for a side note, you CAN cook bacon in the oven. If you do, I use Downshiftology’s method with her “How to cook bacon in the Oven” post - Add Eggs to a bowl and whisk (If you want the extra flavor, add them to the bacon!)
- Cook Pasta to the box specifications. You will not cook the pasta after this (compared to different pasta dishes) if you take it a little under. It will be crunchy when you eat it! My box said around 10-12.
- Drain the pasta and reserve 1/2 cup of water.
- You can do this in batches or slowly incorporate. In a huge bowl, add the cheese, some pasta water, 2 teaspoons (or eyeball it) of the bacon fat. Toss and whisk vigorously. Adding small amounts of water if you need it. Season with salt and pepper.
EAT!
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