I titled this “pasta” carbonara as it can be served with several different kinds of pasta. While I used spaghetti, it’s also good with linguini or penne, rigatoni, mostaccioli or other short pasta shapes. It should be a shape that is more robust and can hold the pancetta and cream.
Ensure you mix all the sauce ingredients really well before adding to the hot pasta. You don’t want any cooked egg yolk, and you want the cheese evenly distributed so melts well. You may find many carbonara recipes that omit the cream. This is a regional difference as my husband worked in several restaurants in and around Florence, Italy and always used cream in his carbonara.
With most pasta dishes, you want to be able to serve right away. Once the sauce has been tossed with the pasta, it should be served immediately and it’s even more important with carbonara. This pasta needs to be served as soon as possible, or the sauce will dry out. One way to prevent that is to add a little more cream or some of the pasta water.
Looking for a pasta recipe, but not this one? How about one of these?
- Brown Butter Fettucine with Sage – Vegetarian
- Farfalle with Beets and Pine Nuts – Vegetarian
- Fettuccine with Peas and Asparagus – Vegetarian
- Pasta alla Puttanesca – Dairy-free, Vegan
- Pasta alle Vongole Bianco (white clam sauce)
- Penne with Olives, Feta, and Greens – Vegetarian
- Rigatoni with Spicy Sausage Red Sauce
- Rigatoni with Shrimp and Basil
- Spaghetti al Aglio, Olio, and Pepperoncini – Dairy-free, Vegan
Pasta Carbonara
Ingredients
- 12 oz penne
- ½ cup pancetta cut into small squares (or bacon)
- 3 Tbsp olive oil extra virgin
- 3 egg yolk
- ¼ cup onion diced
- 1 cup whipping cream
- ¼ tsp black pepper
- â…› cup parmesan cheese grated
Instructions
- Bring a large pan of generously salted water to a boil.
- In a medium skillet heat oil. Sauté the pancetta and onion until the onion is translucent and the pancetta is browned.
- Meanwhile, cook penne in salted water until it is al dente.
- While the pasta is cooking, whisk the egg yolks in a small bowl. Add cream and mix well. Then add the parmesan cheese and combine. Season with black pepper.
- Drain pasta well and add to skillet. Toss well to coat. Then pour over the egg mixture. Mix well and cook for a few minutes until the sauce becomes creamy. Serve immediately.