Creamy bacon carbonara
This recipe was kindly given to us by Pete, one of our lovely engineers and without a doubt F&P’s finest barrista! Today is Pete’s first day back at work after 5 weeks away in Europe. This morning I got a brief run-down on how his trip went, however I am yet to interrogate him about the beautiful food he sampled on his travels. I think I’ll have to corner him next time he comes in to make one of his fantastic coffees.
Over to Pete.
If I had to choose a favourite type of pasta it would definitely be fettuccini for 2 reasons, firstly it’s substantial. I must always be really hungry when I make this dish so I like that when you load up your fork you get a full solid mouthful, it’s not half air like penne or macaroni, and it stays on the fork better than spaghetti. Secondly it works really well with rich creamy sauces, what could be better!
Pasta alla Carbonara is based on eggs, cheese, pork and pepper and a key feature is that it relies on the heat of the pasta to cook the eggs.
This recipe makes use of easy to source ingredients, is super easy to make and tastes fantastic. Enjoy!
Ingredients
6
- --
- 8 – 10 rashers bacon
- 500ml cream
- s & p
- 2 eggs
- 30g parmesan
- 750g fettuccini
- chopped parsley to serve
Method
- --
- 1. Cut the bacon into 1cm strips and fry over a medium heat.
- 2. Place the fettuccini into a pot of salted, boiling water and cook until al dente
- 3. In the mean time, once the bacon is cooked add the cream and salt and pepper to the pan and simmer to reduce until thick and creamy.
- 4. Whisk together the egg and parmesan
- 5. Once the pasta is cooked, drain and add it to the pan and stir it through the cream sauce.
- 6. Finally, add the egg and parmesan to the pan and stir again.
- 7. Serve immediately garnished with parsley.
Oh I love fettuccini!!
This is not looking to hard to deal with too, great one!
Wow, this looks incredibly delicious! I am surely going to try it. Thanks for sharing!
Just made this. It was so easy and yummy!!!
I made this lastnight and added in white wine & garlic. YUM!
Lovely, I doubled the recipe and gobble the whole thing, Beautiful
this is soooo yummy.
im eating it at the moment..
god its good. though its not really wet.
but still good!
Hi Rowan,
Great to hear that you have enjoyed our Carbonara……it appears to be quite a hit!
Happy cooking!
Emma
This looks delicious! Will definitely give your recipe a try as I love, love, love Carbonara.
I recently did a little experimenting and came up with a great recipe for Carbonara Made with Farm Fresh Eggs, Topped with Pork Belly
http://wp.me/puWta-cj
Give it a try if you like!
Great blog by the way.
Hello!
Thanks for reading and commenting on our blog – we are glad you like it. This recipe seems to prove popular so I am sure you will not be disappointed!
What an interesting twist adding pork belly to your carbonara. I have never cooked pork belly before so much give it a go.
Happy cooking!
Emma
LOVE this easy-to-follow and use recipe. My family request this dish every week!! Thanks .
Hi Paina!
I am glad you like Pete’s recipe – it has definitely proved to be one of our more popular recipes!
Happy cooking!
Emma.
was wondering how many people this recipe serves?
Hi Catherine,
Sorry this info wasn’t available on the site (will update this now). This recipe serves 6.
Happy cooking!
Emma
emma how many people does this specific recipe serve?
I love a great carbonara. This photo looks stunning and at 8am, I can say Im ready for a plate full.
Hi Matt,
This recipe serves between 6 and 8 people depending on how hungry everyone is!
Bon appetit!
Emma
Hi Kita!
If you could eat a plate full of carbonara at 8am I’d be impressed!
Bon appetit and thanks for reading!
Emma
This is the first time I’ve ever seen a Carbonara recipe that is remotely similar to the one my mom has made my whole entire life. It’s always been my favorite meal, therefore she refused to teach me how to make it. She taught my wife after I got married, although it’s always been a special occasion meal in my family, like every single one of my birthdays for the last 24 years.
Hi David,
Wow! I am impressed that this dish has such a special place in your heart! And even more impressed that it has been your birthday dish of choice for the last 24 years!
I hope now you can cook it yourself too!
Bon Appetit!
Emma
This is amazing. I’m eating it right now and I just want to have it forever. Thank you so much for this recipe. I’ve just been teaching myself how to cook for the last year or so and its so great to find simple yet stunning recipes.
We have another convert! =)
Happy to hear that you have started to learn how to cook – congratulations!
I hope you find some more easy, yet tasty recipes on the blog.
Happy cooking!
Emma
Hi Emma. Great recipe and the taste is divine. I have now added mushrooms, onions and garlic in the pan with the bacon. Dependent on the type of mushrooms used in this dish it takes it to another level. The kids love the taste. Well done and it is so simple.
Hi Tony,
I am glad you enjoy the carbonara recipe and that you have been able to give it a twist to make it your own – exactly what cooking is all about!
Happy 2012 and happy cooking!
Emma
We made this for dinner tonight and it was AMAZING, we all loved it very much and will make again, thanks for the great recipe!
Hi Angie,
Thanks for your message. Great to hear that you loved the carbonara so much – it has certainly proved to be one of our most popular recipes!
Happy cooking and a very happy 2012 to you!
Emma
I plan on making this for dinner tonight for me and my boyfriend but I love lots of sauce on my pasta. I was just wondering if it is like that or if its a bit of sauce and then pasta or if its equal parts of each?
Hi Jennifer,
I would say that this is a pretty saucy dish! It is very rich and is not short on sauce…..though if you like more sauce than pasta you could add an extra egg and/or a bit more cream. As you make the sauce in a pan separate to the pasta it will be easy to gauge how much you have to go over your pasta.
I hope this is useful. Happy cooking!
Emma
Hi, I am planning to make this for dinner tonight, I do love carbonara – is there a vegie version? Nice blog btw!
Hello, this might be a silly question but do you drain the bacon then add the cream? Or do you just add the cream right after your down cooking the bacon?
Looks terrific! Quick question: Do you pour off the bacon grease before adding the cream? Looking forward to trying this one soon.
Hi Ken,
Thanks for your comment. I didn’t pour off any bacon fat but it wouldn’t hurt if you did want to do so. Really the amount of fat that comes off the bacon is all dependent on the cut you use. So if it looks like you have an excess of fat by all means pour it off.
Let us know how you go!
Happy Cooking,
Emma
Hi Morgan,
I didn’t drain off any fat but that could be because the bacon didn’t contain much fat in the first place. It really depends on the kind of bacon you use. So if you think you should drain off fat then by all means do so – it will certainly make for a (slightly!) healthier dish!
Happy cooking!
Emma
I made this recipe today, it was my first time making a creamy sauce. It turned out really well! I’m a fan, I’ll definitely be using this recipe again, thanks !
Hi Halie,
That is so cool that you chose our recipe to make your first creamy sauce! And even better that it turned out so well!
Happy cooking!
Emma
this is truly divine.
Thanks Nicky!
We’re glad you like it! =)
Happy cooking,
Emma
Wow! Really good photos. Definitely trying out the recipe.
What cream did you use?
Hi Michelle,
We just used regular pouring cream.
Happy Cooking!
Emma
so mean churr
Hi Jesse,
Thanks for your message – glad you like the carbonara!
Emma
I haven’t tried this recipe yet, however I am currently cooking it as we speak. It looks delicious and smells even better. However, I was wondering if I was supposed to remove the bacon fat after cooking bacon. I didn’t from mine, so we’ll see, because honestly…what doesn’t bacon fat make better?
Hi Shannon,
Glad to hear you are giving our carbonara recipe a go. A word of warning it is addictive! When making the recipe the bacon fat did not render down a whole lot so there was no need to pour it off. I am often known to chop excess fat off bacon however but I can’t remember whether or not this is what I did in this recipe. Either way, it is really up to your own personal taste. As you say, the bacon fat certainly does add flavour!
Happy Cooking!
Emma