Creamy Egg and Bacon Carbonara
Ingredients
- 6 large eggs
- 1 cup parmesan cheese, finely shredded
- 3/4 tsp. salt
- 3/4 tsp. pepper
- ½-pound egg fettuccine
- 7-ounces bacon lardons (see notes below)
- 1 clove garlic, peeled and minced
- Small bunch fresh parsley, roughly chopped, for serving
- 1 tbsp. parmesan cheese, finely shredded
Instructions
- In a small bowl, mix 3 of the eggs, the parmesan, salt and pepper together; set aside.
- Bring a large pan of water to boil, enough to just cover the pasta, add in the fettuccine and cook as per package instructions.
- Meanwhile, in a large skillet, over high heat, add the bacon lardons; fry until the bacon is browned and crispy; turn down the heat to low and stir in the garlic.
- At this point, if you wish to serve your carbonara with poached eggs, boil a kettle so it’s ready for poaching the remaining 3 eggs.
- When the pasta is ready, spoon out all but approximately 1 tablespoon of excess fat from the bacon pan; use a set of tongs to transfer the fettuccine to the bacon pan; using tongs, rather than draining the pasta, transfers some of the pasta water, which helps to thicken the sauce.
- Working quickly, pour the egg/parmesan mixture into the bacon pan, then lift and lower the pasta in the pan using the tongs; this should coat the pasta in the egg/parmesan mixture without the egg scrambling.
- Add a ladle of the pasta water to the pan, then lift and lower again; this will loosen the sauce slightly; turn off the heat.
- If you’re serving the carbonara with poached eggs, pour the pasta water down the sink, then add boiled water from the kettle to the hot pan.
- With the water gently simmering, give it a stir, then break an egg into a small bowl and lower the egg into the water.
- Repeat with the other two eggs, and simmer for 2 minutes.
- Remove the eggs with a slotted spoon, and serve on top of the carbonara along with some parmesan and fresh parsley.
Notes
Not familiar with the food product ‘lardons’?
(1) No worries, pancetta is a perfectly good substitute for lardons; just cut them into small cubes.
or
(2) Pick up a piece of salt pork, cut it into the lardon shapes, blanch (place in cold water, bring to a simmer, toss water and repeat) which reduces/removes the heavy saltiness; use it as the recipe directs.