Pasta Carbonara

This recipe originally comes from this blog, and is adapted from The Pioneer Woman's recipe.  If you've ever tried anything from The Pioneer Woman, you know it's going to be good!

What first drew my attention to this recipe (besides the picture looking delicious) was that the description said there was no cream, and the bacon grease is drained, so it is a "lighter" pasta dish.  Also....BACON!  With my calculations, it comes out to about 440 calories per serving (makes 4 servings).  Not bad for a pasta dish with cheese and bacon!  For one serving to be enough, and actually feed four people, be prepared to have a side with it (salad or lightly steamed green veggies would be perfect).

Here's how mine turned out!

Without any further ado, lets get on to the recipe!

Pasta Carbonara
Cooking time: about 1 hour
Serves: 4

Ingredients:

• 1/2 pound bacon or pancetta (I used bacon)
• 1 whole small onion
• 5 cloves garlic
• 1/2 cup white wine (or chicken or vegetable stock...I used wine)
• 1/2 cup chicken stock (or more)
• 1/2 bunch parsley
• 2 whole eggs
• 1/2 cup Parmesan cheese plus more for garnish
• 1/2 pound linguine pasta
• 2 tablespoons butter
• salt and pepper to season

1. Cook the bacon.  Place cooked bacon on a plate with a paper towel to absorb some of the grease.  Pour out most of the grease, but leave a little in the pan for the next step.  Try not to eat all the bacon before it goes in the dish (this is the hard part!).

   

   Mmmm...bacon!  Cooking with my new Le Cruset pan.  Love it!  It's me new favorite pan!

2. Chop onion into small pieces (you can do this while the bacon is cooking).  Cook diced onion in a reasonable amount of bacon grease for a few minutes on medium-high heat while stirring.  Avoid burning it, and don't overcook (it will get cooked a little more later).

   

   My new knife!

3. It's not in the original instructions in this order, but I recommend starting your pot of water boiling while the onions are cooking.  (I forgot to make the pasta until it was about time to put it all together.  Yes...I forgot the pasta in a pasta dish. *facepalm*)
4. Slice the garlic and add it to the onions.  Cook together for a few more minutes, then scoop the onions and garlic from the pan with a slotted spoon and discard the grease.
5. Put the pan on high heat, and add the wine (or chicken stock) to deglaze the pan.  Stir, making sure you get all the bits of bacon goodness scraped off the pan.  Add the chicken stock, bacon (crumble/tear it up into pieces), and onion/garlic mix.  Let simmer on low heat.  Do not let too much liquid evaporate; add a little more chicken stock if needed while it simmers.
   

   

   Step 5 1/2: taste the wine!

6. Cook the pasta according to box instructions.
7. While the pasta is cooking, in a large bowl add together eggs and parmesan.  Chop the parsley and add to the bowl.  Mix well with a fork. 
   
8. Drain the pasta, and add to the egg mixture.  My suggestion is to add the hot pasta to the egg mixture a little bit at a time, so you don't end up with bits of scrambled egg.  Mix well.  Add onion, garlic, and bacon mixture and mix again.  Add butter, salt and pepper to taste.  Garnish with additional cheese and parsley.

All mixed up

The Verdict

Drumroll please............I loved it!

The egg and cheese based sauce reminded my of a family dish, but the onion, garlic, and bacon pack way more flavor into the dish.  I was a little skeptical of the parsley and it seemed like a lot to me, but the flavor really complimented the dish nicely.  Don't be afraid of the parsley!  The pepper added at the end was also important for bringing out the flavors in this dish.  I liked it so much, I went back for seconds and finished off the leftovers the next day.  (Side note: with this kind of sauce, it's best eaten fresh and not reheated.)  Even lightened up, it was still a bit greasy, but not too bad. 

The hubby, on the other hand, was not a fan.  He only had a few bites and said it "wasn't his thing".  For some reason, he is against eating pasta as a main dish without "some sort of protein" (like chicken, meatballs, etc.).  My response?  "Bacon is protein!  So is egg!"  But that brings me to another point: this would probably be really good with some chicken strips, maybe lightly grilled or sauteed with some blackened seasoning.  I might add some more cheese next time, too.  (Who doesn't like more cheese?)  

I'm definitely saving this recipe to make again!