Pappardelle Carbonara
Carbonara is easily one of my favorite pasta dishes. It’s creamy, cheesy & perfect. Carbonara is surprisingly easy, and fast to cook as well.
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Boiling the water and frying the bacon takes the most time! Get those both going first, cook your pasta to al dente, and you’re already halfway there. Always salt your water, and reserve about a cup of the pasta water before you drain the noodles.
Notes: I prefer Wright’s thick cut bacon and you only need 3 to 4 pieces. Long, thin noodles like spaghetti are preferred for carbonara. I used Del Cecco Pappardelle.
While those cook, crack 3 eggs into a bowl and whisk well. In a separate bowl, add 1 cup of grated parmesan cheese and ½ cup of pecorino Romano cheese. You don’t have to do both. Either/or is fine!
After your bacon is cooked well, remove to a paper towel to quickly drain the extra grease and then move to a cutting board to roughly chop. Leave the leftover bacon grease in the skillet unless there is way too much; you need about 2 to 3 tablespoons. Move the chopped bacon back to the skillet, add your drained noodles, and toss to combine.
Turn the heat off, moving your skillet to an unheated surface. Pour your egg mixture over the noodles, stir quickly and scrape the bottom of the pan to ensure the eggs do not scramble. That’s a carbonara no-no.
Don't be intimidated by pastas that include adding egg to the cooking process. It’s weird doing it for the first time, but you start asking yourself, “won’t am I not coating all my pasta like this?”
Once the eggs are combined into the noodles (the heat from the pan and pasta will cook the eggs thoroughly without scrambling them) move the pan back to your heated stovetop and pour in the cheeses. It’ll be thick, so use some of that pasta water to help the cheese melt nicely. It’s insane.
I am so hungry typing this, holy crap. That’s all there is to it. Carbonara is so good you won’t believe it.
Pappardelle Carbonara
Ingredients
- 1 package long, thin pasta like spaghetti or linguine. I used Del Cecco Pappardelle here.
- 3-4 slices thick cut bacon (I prefer Wrights)
- 3 eggs
- 1 C Parmesan cheese
- 1/2 C pecorino Romano cheese
Instructions
- Put 3 to 4 strips of thick cut back in a skillet. Don’t overcook your bacon. Also boil a large pot of water. Salt the water. Crack and mix 3 eggs in a bowl. Pour 1-2 cups Parmesan and/or pecorino Romano cheese into a separate bowl.
- Cook your pasta to al dente according to the package, maybe even a minute less. Reserve a cup of the pasta water before you drain.
- Remove bacon from skillet, to a paper towel first, then to a chopping board. Coarsely chop. Add back to skillet with leftover grease. Remove extra grease if you have an excess of more than a couple tablespoons.
- Add your drained noodles to the bacon and grease, stirring well.
- This is where you work fast. Turn your heat off, move the skillet to an unheated surface, and pour the eggs over over the noodles. Stirring and scraping the bottom so that the eggs do not stick and scramble. Most important part!
- Once the eggs have formed a perfect bond to the noodles, move the pan back to the heat (off but still very hot) and pour in cheese. Pour pasta water in sparingly to help the cheese melt to the noodles.
- Transfer to a pour and ENJOY!
