Recipe: Easy Pasta Carbonara | FOOD

Carbonara is one of the quickest and tastiest pasta dishes and its so easy to make from scratch at home. Most people are surprised that a proper carbonara contains no cream in it. Yes that’s right, NO CREAM. The sauce is made from a combination of eggs, cheese and pasta water which thickens up into a lovely and creamy carbonara sauce. Stir through some homemade pasta and you’ve got yourself a slap up meal.

In this Carbonara I love the crispy pancetta which gives a smokey flavour but you could use bacon lardons or any leftover ham you’ve got lying around in the fridge. I cook it with garlic cloves to help infuse the garlic flavour but I actually remove these before I add the pasta to the pan. I’m using parmesan in this version for the cheese but pecorino Romano works well too; any hard Italian cheese will be fine.

When you drain the pasta, take care not to throw away the water you cooked the pasta in. This contains starch which is going to help thicken our sauce and make it lovely and creamy and be careful not to add the egg mixture when the heat is still on because you don’t want scrambled eggs! I usually turn the heat off but I also take the pan off of the heat completely, just to be safe. When the sauce starts to thicken and turn creamy and glossy, you know it’s ready to serve and it’s best enjoyed immediately with a chunk of garlic bread.

Keep scrolling for the recipe!

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Pasta Carbonara – The Recipe

Serves 4

INGREDIENTS

130g pancetta

2 cloves of garlic

3 eggs

100g grated parmesan

1 pinch of salt

1 pinch of pepper

2 ladles of pasta water

METHOD

1. Cook the pancetta with the garlic in a frying pan and fry for 5 minutes on a high heat until the pancetta is crispy
2. In a bowl, beat together the eggs and add the grated cheese with the salt and pepper. Mix together
3. Remove and discard the garlic and add your cooked pasta to the pan, stir well and turn off the heat
4. Remove the pan from the heat and add the egg and cheese mixture to the pan.
5. Add the pasta water and stir until the sauce becomes creamy
6. Serve immediately and enjoy!

What’s your favourite pasta dish?

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