Sometimes you just need a recipe for the best easy pasta carbonara to go to when you want – no, need! – this classic bacon egg and cheese pasta supper. Here’s that recipe!
So, now that I have told you our Very Big News, it is feeling realer than real to me. And even great things can make your head spin and when your head is spinning, or at least when my head is spinning, I head right to the kitchen, and I cook comfort food.
And for me, comfort food invariably means some conglomeration of pasta and eggs, and when things are truly head-spinning I bring on the bacon.
Which is why even though the world probably doesn’t need another recipe for the classic egg and cheese and pasta dish that is pasta carbonara, today I am talking about mine, which is not totally authentic but IS totally scrumptious.
Here’s my take on the best easy pasta carbonara recipe!
Before I started writing about this I took a quick look around my recipe archives on my site and found lemon pasta carbonara, chicken pasta carbonara and loaded pasta carbonara, which are all favorites of various people I know and love, but this particular one is as close as I come to the classic original, which is traditionally just pasta, eggs, Parmesan cheese and pancetta.
Me being me, I did fiddle just a teeny bit with it, and by that I mean I swapped out the pancetta for bacon (you knew that was coming) and I added a little white wine and parsley and butter to the mix.
But aside from that, it’s pretty close to classic, and one of the speediest, most scrumptious recipes I know.
I start by making the egg mixture first. Whisk up some eggs with that Parmesan cheese and some fresh chopped parsley and set it aside for later.
Next, cook up a whole mess of chopped bacon. I noted in the recipe that I deliberately went overboard with the amount of bacon, so you can cut it back it you want, but we wanted things baconalicious so there you go.
Leave the drippings in the pan, because you are going to put some freshly cooked hot linguine in there, followed by the egg mixture and some butter and the bacon, and the heat of the pasta is going to cook the egg mixture to creamy deliciousness and oh my my.
All that’s left to do now is to put it in some warmed up bowls, sprinkle on some more cheese and parsley and let people start twirling. Here’s a quick video to show you how easy this all is…
Now I have to go look at exterior house paint colors for the one millionth time. Yes, you do that at the START of the house-building process. The things I am learning – I shall keep you posted!
The Best Easy Pasta Carbonara
Prep Time: 15 minutes- Cook Time: 20 minutes
- Total Time: 35 minutes
- Yield: 4-6 1x
- Category: Dinner
- Method: Stovetop
- Cuisine: Italian
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Sometimes you just need a recipe for the best easy pasta carbonara to go to when you want – no, need! – this classic bacon egg and cheese pasta supper. Here’s that recipe!
Ingredients
- 4 eggs, beaten to blend
- 1 1/2 cups shredded Parmesan cheese
- 1/4 cup fresh chopped parsley
- 8 ounces linguine
- 1 pound bacon, chopped (see note)
- 1 cup white wine
- 4 tablespoons butter
- 1 teaspoon black pepper
Instructions
- Put the eggs in a bowl with all but 1/4 cup of the parmesan cheese, and most of the parsley. Whisk it all up together and set aside.
- Cook linguine in heavily salted water according to package directions until done, scooping out a cup of pasta water at the end.
- Meanwhile, cook the bacon in a large deep skillet until crispy. Scoop out with a slotted spoon and drain on paper towels, leaving the drippings in the skillet.
- Pour in the white wine and cook over medium high heat for for a couple of minutes, scraping all the delightful stuck-on bits of bacon off the bottom of the pan.
- Add the hot cooked pasta to the skillet with the bacon drippings, followed by the butter, the egg mixture and the bacon and toss to coat – the heat of the pasta is going to cook that egg mixture just the right amount. Sprinkle in some pepper, and if you think the sauce needs a little loosening up, drizzle in some of that pasta water that you saved. Sometimes I do this and sometimes I don’t.
- Divide among warmed plates, sprinkle with Parmesan and parsley and serve!
Notes
So, I deliberately overdid it on the bacon, because we like a lotta bacon in our carbonara. If you want a lighter version, you can cut the amount of bacon in half. (I can’t believe I just said that!)
This right here is one of the most comforting of comfort foods for me. So glad you shared this today! And have fun with paint colors. That sort of thing is way too overwhelming for me.
I’m definitely a little overwhelmed! But I know I will have lots of help. Gulp. :)
I’ve started watching RESTORED on HGTV. He usually chooses 3-4 exterior colors & paints squares of them on the house & lives with it for a day or so. He said sometimes neighbor’s house colors change the way it looks. But since you’ve got such a HUGE lot, I doubt that will be an issue. But you might want to get samples & paint scrap boards to try them. Have fun! Can’t wait to try the carbonara – I’ve never made it.
Hi Martha and that is great advice – we are going down next week for the meeting on the exterior and I will ask about that! Meantime, hope you love the carbonara! :)