Carbonara Pasta Recipe
Easy and quick recipe for this creamy egg-based sauce with bacon or pancetta. Pair it with a high-acid white wine, sparkling wine, or light red wine.
Ingredients
- 1/3 pound pancetta or bacon
- 4 garlic cloves
- 2 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
- 1/4 cup dry white wine
- 2 large eggs
- 1/4 cup freshly grated romano cheese
- 1/2 cup freshly grated parmigiano-reggiano cheese
- salt and black pepper
- 2 tbsp chopped parsley
- 12 oz pasta (spaghetti or other long pasta)
- 3/4 cup frozen peas (optional)
Instructions
Pasta
- Fill a medium-sized pot with water. Add a large pinch of salt.
- Heat until boiling and add pasta.
- Cook pasta until al dente (slightly underdone). Reserve 1 cup of pasta water. Drain the pasta and set aside.
Sauce
- Dice the pancetta or bacon.
- Smash the garlic with the side of a knife and discard the skin.
- Crack eggs into a small bowl and beat with a fork. Add the grated Romano and Parmigiano-Reggiano cheeses, and some grindings of pepper. Mix together and set aside.
- Saute the garlic in olive oil in a large pan on medium-high heat until garlic is golden brown. Remove and discard garlic.
- Add pancetta or bacon to the pan and cook until edges begin to crisp. If desired, spoon off some of the fat.
- Add the wine, scraping up any browned bits from the bottom of the pan with a wooden spoon. Let it cook off for 1-2 minutes. Turn off the heat.
- Add cooked pasta and egg mixture to the pan. Toss rapidly until pasta is coated with sauce and pancetta/bacon is mixed in. If desired, add some of the reserved pasta water to make it creamier.
- Add salt to taste. Garnish with parsley.
Notes
If you want to add peas, cook them in the pan used for the pancetta/bacon. Just remove the meat while they cook and then add it back when combining all the other ingredients.