Spaghetti Carbonara
Rich and decadent meets quick, cheap, and easy in this classic creamy Spaghetti Carbonara.
Servings: 6 servings
Ingredients
- 1 pound of spaghetti
- 3 eggs
- 1 1/2 cups parmesan cheese divided
- 6-8 slices of bacon
- 1/2 cup chopped yellow onion
- 1/2 cup chopped bell pepper
- 1/2 cup chopped mushrooms
- 2 cloves minced garlic
- Freshly cracked black pepper
Instructions
- In a medium sized bowl, whisk together the eggs with 1 cup of parmesan cheese and cracked black pepper. Set aside.
- Boil the water to cook the spaghetti and cook the spaghetti according to the package directions until the pasta is al dente. Meanwhile, in a large skillet, fry the bacon over medium heat.
- When the bacon has crisped, add the onion and bell pepper to the skillet and cook for 3-4 minutes over medium heat or until the onions and bell peppers have started to soften. Add the mushrooms and garlic and cook another 1-2 minutes, until just softened.
- When the pasta has finished cooking carefully remove and reserve about a 1/2 cup of the cooking water. Drain the pasta.
- Add 1/3 of the hot cooked pasta to the egg and cheese mixture and quickly stir to bring up the temperature of the eggs gradually.
- Add all the pasta and the egg mixture to the pan with the bacon and veggies and stir vigorously as the eggs thicken. Do not let the eggs scramble! Thin out the sauce with a bit of the reserved cooking water if desired.
- Season to taste with salt and pepper and top with remaining parmesan to serve.
Notes
Let your eggs come to room temperature as you chop and prepare the veggies and bacon. Have everything set out and ready to go before you start cooking.
Do not rinse your spaghetti. The starch helps the consistency of the sauce and you need the heat of the pasta to cook the eggs.
It is important that you have everything ready and prepared when you add the hot pasta to the eggs. The finishing steps move quickly.
Depending on how you like your sauce, you might add a bit of the reserved pasta water to thin the carbonara a bit.