Pasta Carbonara: A Quick and Easy Recipe With Eggs and Bacon
Born and raised in Italy, Robie loves good, healthy food (even better if it's easy to cook). She cooks every day for her family and friends.
Pasta alla carbonara is a quick and easy recipe.
This Original Italian Recipe Has Been in My Family for Generations
This is a simple and delicious dish, ready in only 15 minutes. If you love eggs and bacon, you'll like this recipe.
The typical carbonara is typically made with spaghetti, but you can make it with many other kinds of pasta; some ideas are linguine, rotini, bow ties, or penne.
Short noodles, like penne, are much easier for kids (and adults alike) to grab with the fork, and much less messy to eat than longer noodles, like spaghetti.
Penne alla carbonara is pasta with eggs, bacon, and Parmesan cheese.
Robie Benve
Cook Time
| Prep time | Cook time | Ready in | Yields |
|---|---|---|---|
8 min | 12 min | 20 min | 5 servings |
Ingredients
- 1 pound penne
- 4 eggs, whole
- 8 slices of smoked bacon, diced
- 3/4 cup Parmesan cheese, grated
- ½ tsp salt
- ½ tsp black pepper
- 4 tbsp heavy cream (optional)
This simple recipe requires only a few ingredients
Robie Benve
Instructions
- Bring 12 cups (3 liters) of water to a boil, then add 1 tbsp of salt. Cook the penne in the boiling water, according to cooking time on the package.
- In a bowl, whisk the eggs, Parmesan cheese, salt and black pepper. For a creamier sauce, add the heavy cream (optional).
- Dice the bacon. Cook the bacon in a pan with 4 tablespoons of water on medium heat, for about 10 minutes, or until it gets a golden color.
- When the pasta is cooked, drain it using a colander, and immediately pour the drained pasta back in the same hot pot it came from. (Tip: To keep the sauce creamier, keep bout 1/3 of a cup the pasta's cooking water.)
- Keep the pot on the medium heat stove for 1-2 minutes. While stirring, add the bacon with all its cooking juices, and add the egg mix. Keep stirring for a couple of minutes, this will allow the creamy egg sauce to cook.
- Serve hot. You may add some grated Parmesan cheese on top of each plate. Enjoy!
Photo Guide
Bring 12 cups (3 liters) of water to a boil, then salt with 1 tbsp of salt.
Robei Benve, CC-By
Read More From Delishably
In a bowl, whisk the eggs, Parmesan cheese, salt and pepper.
Robie benve, CC-BY
In a bowl, whisk the eggs, Parmesan cheese, salt and pepper. For a creamier sauce add the heavy cream as well (optional).
Robie Benve, CC-BY
Cook the diced bacon in a pan with 4 tablespoons of water on medium heat, for about 10 minutes, or until it gets a golden color.
Robie Benve, BY-CC
Drain the cooked pasta using a colander, and immediately pour the drained pasta back in the same hot pot it came from, keeping some cooking water. While stirring on medium heat, add the bacon with all its cooking juices and the egg mix. Stir.
Robie Benve, BY-CC
Adding Soluble Fiber to the Pasta Sauce
Penne carbonara is a very nutritious dish, a great go-to recipe for those occasions when you haven't much time to cook, but are very hungry and in the mood for a satisfying dish.
This is the true original recipe from Italy, and, as per tradition, it has no veggies in the ingredients.
Therefore the only thing missing in this dish to become a well balanced, complete meal is fiber. Since I am a big fan of veggies and of complete meals, I often add soluble fiber to the seasoning mix, while I'm beating the eggs. This way I make sure that on top of all the vitamins, minerals, calcium, carbs, and fat that this dish provides, there are also the ever-useful fibers.
Finish up with a generous dusting of Parmesan cheese on top.
Robie Benve
Original Italian Carbonara Recipe
The carbonara recipe presented here is the one that my grandma Antonia used to make for me when I was a teenager.
Grandma lived with us, and on summer Sundays I would usually sleep until noon or even 1 p.m. I remember her smile when she came to wake me up, sit at the feet of my bed, and ask if I wanted carbonara for lunch. It was just the two of us during summer.
So I had no breakfast on Sundays, I was going straight from sleeping status to sharing a yummy carbonara with Grandma.
© 2012 Robie Benve
