Carbonara Recipe Large Group

Make classic Italian pasta carbonara tonight with this tested-and-perfected homemade recipe. This comforting pasta dinner is ready in 35 minutes and features spaghetti in a creamy sauce with eggs, thick-cut bacon, peas (optional), and two kinds of grated cheese: Parmigiano Reggiano and pecorino Romano. Visual guidance provided.

Pasta carbonara is a classy meal. But it’s also one of our favorite simple pasta dinner ideas with humble origins — my easy carbonara recipe is a crowd-pleaser for good reason. It’s fast, this Italian pasta recipe is made with simple ingredients. And most important, it tastes sooo delicious — right up there with homemade Alfredo sauce for pasta!

This is what I consider the ultimate recipe for pasta carbonara — perfectly cooked spaghetti (or other long strands of pasta) tangled up in a creamy sauce with bacon and grated cheese. It’s soul-satisfying, and absolutely one of my all-time comfort foods.

Pasta For A Crowd

I grew up in an Italian family, but the homemade pasta sauces my mom and grandmothers cooked was usually red sauce and meatballs. It wasn’t until I went to Italy and tasted this phenomenal dish in Rome that I was able to perfect the recipe to a “T”!

My kids have always l-o-v-e-d what they’ve endearingly shortened to “carbonara, ” or pasta with bacon and cheese. To this day it’s still the most requested dinner on their birthdays, along with luscious chicken fettuccine Alfredo.

I even included a version of bacon carbonara in my cookbook, but I’ve perfected the recipe to show you how to make this restaurant-quality dish at home.

La Gran Carbonara From Big Momma Cucina Popolare

One of a few stories from Italian food historians say that “pasta alla carbonara” originated during WWII. With the help of regional Italian cooks, American soldiers based in Rome took familiar staples from home (eggs and bacon) and turned them into a simple pasta sauce.

It’s a classic, satisfying dish that people all over the world enjoy, because when you’re hungry there is nothing better than carbs, fat, protein and cheese!

The reason carbonara sauce is kind of magical has to do with chemistry. It happens when the heat of the cooking water and hot pasta quickly “cook” the egg mixture. That’s all there is to it.

One Pan Carbonara

My recipe stays true to the classic method. It’s rich-tasting and satisfying with egg yolks alone. Heavy cream would make the dish feel a bit

I imagine that if you told an Italian to pour cream in a carbonara sauce they would moan dramatically while rolling their eyes. In other words, it’s considered a no-no.

That said, I can see why cream is often used by cooks. Americans like lots of sauce on their pasta (and on food in general), where Italians are a bit more light-handed in that department.

Carbonara Recipe Reviews

But honestly, people can find a carbonara sauce recipe tricky to master. In my opinion, adding cream is a way to get around executing the recipe properly. I hope this recipe will encourage you to give true carbonara sauce a try.

American-style smoked bacon isn’t really a thing in Italy. Cured pork jowl — guanciale — or pancetta is most often used in traditional carbonara recipes. Outside of Italy, it’s become common to use bacon which is more readily available.

When I don’t have any bacon or pancetta, I also love to top pasta carbonara with crumbled pieces of crunchy, crisp prosciutto.

How To Make Spaghetti Alla Carbonara Like An Italianvincenzo's Plate

Carbonara is a sauce made with raw eggs. For that reason, there’s always a chance the eggs in your sauce will “cook” too much, and almost look like bits of scrambled eggs.

First of all, don’t worry. What causes it is the heat of the piping-hot pasta coming into contact with the eggs without enough room for it to steam. Your carbonara will still taste great, but try these steps to master the technique:

Calories: 810 kcal | Carbohydrates: 94 g | Protein: 33 g | Fat: 32 g | Saturated Fat: 12 g | Sodium: 586 mg | Potassium: 561 mg | Fiber: 7 g | Sugar: 6 g | Vitamin A: 1079 IU | Vitamin C: 27 mg | Calcium: 209 mg | Iron: 3 mg

Vegetarian Carbonara Recipe

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