Spaghetti Carbonara

On Tuesday night I went to the theatre again, so I needed something quick and filling for dinner. I chose Spaghetti Carbonara, something I find very difficult to make. Usually I either end up with scrambled eggs, or just horrible tasting raw egg. This time it worked! It was delicious! The recipe came from Top 100 Pasta Sauces again, I really love this cookbook, it has so many lovely pasta dishes in it.



I added quite a bit of creme fraiche to the eggs, to make it more creamy, than eggy and I used pancetta rather than bacon because that was what I had in stock. I did however end up with too much sauce still, it is really difficult to make this just for one person, but I was surprised how good it was! I am submitting this to Presto Pasta Nights next week back with Ruth of Once Upon a Feast.

Spaghetti alla Carbonara (adapted from Top 100 Pasta Sauces)

500g spaghetti
5 eggs
100ml double cream/creme fraiche
salt and pepper
1 tbsp olive oil
25g butter
200g streaky bacon/pancetta
100g grated parmesan

Beat the eggs and cream together with a pinch of salt. Heat the oil and butter in a large pan. Add the diced bacon and cook gently until the fat becomes transparent.

Cook the spaghetti, following packet instructions. Drain the pasta and add it to the bacon pan, stir well. Remove the pan from the heat and stir in the beaten eggs and cream and a small quantity of the cheese. The eggs with coagulate as they come into contact with the hot pasta so it is very important that you work quickly. Stir until each strand of pasta is coated with a thick yellow cream. now stir in the rest of the cheese and ground black pepper to taste. Serve at once.