Spaghetti alla Carbonara

Last night, I made one of the most delicious and simple meals I have made – Spaghetti alla Carbonara! With a handful of ingredients and about 30 minutes, you can be eating a meal you would pay a LOT more for if you went to an Italian restaurant.

All you need is some pasta, olive oil, garlic, pancetta (or a little bacon), red pepper flakes, Parmigiana Reggiano cheese, and parsley.

This dish goes pretty quickly, so prepare the ingredients ahead of time so all you have to do is reach for it when you need it. Also, since there are so few ingredients, use the best you can get. This is the time to spend the extra money on the good eggs. Good eggs? Yes. If you doubt me, buy the grocery store eggs and also buy the organic, free range eggs (even better, get some farm fresh eggs), crack one of each in a bowl and tell me if you see a difference in the yolks.

In the time it takes to boil the water for the pasta, you can prep the rest of the ingredients. So, the next time you aren’t sure what to have for dinner, try making this simple, quick, and DELICIOUS pasta dish.

Print Recipe

Spaghetti alla Carbonara

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By Patrick Dulmage – Serves: 6-8

Prep Time: 5 minutes – Cooking Time: 20 minutes – Total Time: 20 minutes

Spaghetti alla Carbonara

Ingredients

• 1 lb spaghetti (angel hair, bucatini, penne, rigatoni... whatever pasta you want)
• 2 eggs, beaten
• 4 oz pancetta or bacon, chopped
• 4 cloves garlic, minced
• 1 cup Parmigiana Reggiano cheese, grated, plus more for sprinkling
• 2 tbs olive oil (4-6 if omitting pancetta/bacon)
• 1-2 tsp red pepper flakes
• 1/2 cup fresh parsley, finely chopped
• Kosher salt
• Freshly ground pepper

Instructions

1

Start a large pot of boiling water

2

While the water is coming to temperature, beat the eggs and mix in the Parmigiana Reggiano and set aside

3

Chop the parsley, pancetta, and garlic

4

Add the pasta to the boiling water and salt it generously

5

Preheat a large skillet over low heat with the olive oil and add the pancetta and red pepper flakes

6

When the pancetta/bacon is cooked and crispy, add the garlic

7

When the pasta is finished cooking, add it to the skillet and toss to coat all the pasta with the oil in the pan

8

Cut the heat on the skillet, and then carefully start adding in the egg/cheese mixture to the pasta

9

Mix as you add the eggs so they don't turn into scrambled eggs

10

Once thoroughly mixes, generously grind pepper and mix a little more

11

Serve garnished with the parsley