Easy Spaghetti Carbonara with Bacon

A velvety, creamy spaghetti Carbonara with bacon that is full of flavor and so easy to make. Also, it's totally foolproof, so don't worry about messing it up.

Who doesn't like spaghetti?? Here at my house, my kids' eyes shine when they see it on the table, especially if it has bacon, as in this easy and delicious Spaghetti Carbonara.

Spaghetti alla Carbonara is an Italian dish that contains delicious ingredients, like pancetta or bacon, eggs, garlic, and cheese. Although it's very simple to make, many people struggle when making it because of the eggs in the sauce. If not made correctly, you might end up with pasta and scrambled eggs.

So, for this recipe, I'll show you a way to make it that is easy and delicious and won't give you the chance to end up with a lumpy eggy sauce.

How to make Spaghetti Carbonara with bacon

Start bringing about 2 liters (or 2 quarts) of water to a boil. We'll purposefully use less water than usual, so we'll have a high starch concentration to thicken the pasta sauce.

While the water heats up, chop the bacon (or pancetta) and cook it in a skillet until crispy. When you see that the bacon is ready, remove it from the pan and set it aside. Leave about 1 tablespoon of bacon fat in the pan and add the chopped garlic. Sauté it until it starts changing color, being careful not to burn it since it changes color really fast. Remove it from the pan quickly so it won't continue cooking, and put it together with the bacon.

Now, about the cheese... It is important to use a good, sharp-flavored cheese, like Pecorino or Parmesan, because it's going to be one of the most prominent flavors in the recipe. If you use a not-so-good cheese, your pasta might end up with a not-so-good taste. Make sure it's grated by now.

In a medium bowl, whisk the eggs and the yolk, and add a pinch of salt.

So, by now, your water must be already boiling, and you can cook your pasta if you haven't already. Once the pasta is cooked (for the time stated in the package), get a mug and reserve 2 cups of the pasta water. Then, drain the pasta and put it back in the empty pan.

An important tip for a foolproof Carbonara

Now, the most important step for a perfect Carbonara: Very slowly, pour 1 cup of the reserved scalding water into the egg mixture. Whisk it constantly while pouring the water. This process will give you a few things: First, the scalding water will kill bacteria from the raw eggs. Second, the starch in the water will help you achieve the thickness and silky texture desired for the sauce. Third, it will be helpful not to scramble the eggs.

Pour the egg/water mixture over the hot pasta and add the cheese. With the help of a tong, toss the pasta to get it all coated. Add the bacon and garlic that were set aside. Toss to distribute it more evenly on the pasta.

Pronto! Now you have a delicious Spaghetti Carbonara just for you!! Just kidding!... It gives you enough servings to share with the people you love!

Carbonara with Chicken

You can also use some diced chicken you might have hanging around to make this dish even more filling.

In my case, on the day before, we had rice, salad, and chicken breasts. So today, for my Carbonara, I also added some cubed chicken leftover in the fridge.

Since my chicken was already cubed, the only thing I did was to heat it up in 1 tablespoon of the bacon fat.

That's it! Just 2 minutes heating up the chicken, and it gave me a more filling and full of protein dish.

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📖 Recipe / Receita

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