My method of making Penne Carbonara is sort of traditional. I did have an Italian friend look at this video and she was horrified by my method, but I swear eating this dish is equivalent to some of the best I’ve ordered in restaurants. You can use a variety of pastas, but I really prefer using Penne Rigate pasta as it holds the sauce perfectly in its ridges. Making a carbonara from scratch isn’t as hard to make at home as you might think, it’s actually very easy. The only thing you have to pay attention to is the addition of the eggs to the hot pasta. Add them quickly and stir immediately so that they do not scramble, but make a perfectly silky smooth sauce.
I make this dinner all the time when I don’t have a lot of time to cook because it’s so easy and so fast. It’s perfect for a busy weeknight, but it’s also so delicious it can easily work for a special evening dinner – especially when you want something great and don’t have a lot of time to prepare it. 🙂
The prep time on making this Penne alla Carbonara is minimal – about 5 minutes, it takes only about 15/20 mins to cook, so it’s the perfect solution for a quick weeknight dinner. It makes about 4 – 6 servings, depending on how hungry you are.
got pasta on the brain? check these other great recipes out:
here’s a video showing how to make this penne carbonara:
Traditional Penne alla Carbonara
- Prep Time: 5 minutes
- Cook Time: 15 minutes
- Serving: 4 - 6 servings
Nutrition facts (per portion)
- Calories: 712
- Carbohydrate Content: 58.4g
- Cholesterol Content: 196mg
- Fat Content: 36.1g
- Fiber Content: 2.7g
- Protein Content: 39g
- Saturated Fat Content: 15.6g
- Serving Size: 6
- Sodium Content: 1476mg
- Sugar Content: 4.2g
Ingredients
- penne rigate - 1 pound (500 g)
- eggs - 4 large
- heavy cream - 1/2 cup
- parmesan cheese - 1 cup, finely grated, separated
- salt - to taste
- butter - 1 tbsp
- olive oil - 1 tbsp
- bacon - 1/2 pound, thick cut or pancetta, cut into pieces
- basil - a small handfull, shredded
- black pepper - to taste, freshly cracked
how to
- Bring a large pot of salted water to boil for the pasta. (while the water is heating up, you can start preparing the bacon and the eggs.)
- When the pasta water has begun to boil, cook it until al dente.
- Whisk the eggs, cream and 1/2 of the Parmesan together in a small bowl, add some salt, then set aside.
- Melt the butter and olive oil over medium high heat in a large skillet. Add the bacon and cook until it is browned and beginning to turn crisp, then use a slotted spoon to remove the bacon and drain on a paper towel, reserving the fat in the pan.
- When the pasta is ready, drain it, reserving some of the pasta water (about 1/2 a cup). Do not rinse the pasta.
- In the pasta pot, above a high heat, put about 2 tbsp of the pasta water and 1 tbsp of the bacon fat. Add the drained pasta and toss together well, then remove from heat.
- Quickly pour the beaten eggs and bacon over the pasta, and toss together quickly and evenly for about 1 minute - until the sauce begins thickens. (if the sauce is too thick, just slowly add a bit more of the pasta water)
- Serve immediately with a lot of cracked pepper, and garnish with remaining Parmesan and basil leaves.
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Made it and although it tasted good, I ended up with pasta and scrambled eggs. How do I avoid the eggs “cooking” instead of staying a creamy sauce?
You have to dump them in and begin stirring immediately and without stopping. You also need to make sure that the pan is no longer on the heat. The quicker you stir, the less chance you have of the eggs becoming ‘cooked’.
I made this tonight and sauteed Portobello mushrooms and red peppers with the bacon. Then mixed in the fresh basil instead of just on top. It was awesome!!
Oh that sounds GOOD!! I’m so glad you enjoyed it, I’m gonna try it with mushrooms next time too. 🙂
The adds on your website is blocking the parts of the recipe!
Hi Annette. If you turn your ipad to landscape mode you can see everything important. Or even easier – just click on “view text only version” under “problems viewing this recipe” – I have having an iPad friendly site built, it’s just taking a while. 🙂
pour in the eggs and bacon into where – the pasta or a separate pan? i was confused with some of your instructions. a video would be great.
Hi. The eggs and bacon go over the hot pasta. Sorry for any confusion. 🙂
Thank you! 😉
Che fame! 🙂
Hello-
You say to whisk cream with the eggs and Parmessan cheese, but there’s no cream in the ingredient list. Could you, please, let me know how much cream is used?
Yes, so sorry – it’s fixed now – 1/2 a cup. 🙂