30-Minute Spaghetti Carbonara

This creamy, crowd-pleasing Italian classic is made with staples you may well have on hand, so it’s a perfect weeknight meal when you’re too hangry to run to the store. For perfect results, quickly toss the hot spaghetti (plus a splash of the cooking water) with the other ingredients; the heat of the pasta cooks the eggs just enough to create a silky, luxurious sauce. You can go with thick-cut pepper bacon, Italian pancetta (uncured rolled bacon) if you’re a traditionalist, or regular thick-cut bacon plus a good grind of pepper. The recipe, which makes 7 cups, is a Yummly original created by Ivy Manning.

Author: Yummly

Category: Dinner

Cuisine: Italian

Difficulty: EASY

Prep. Time:

Cook Time: 30 minutes

Total Time: 30 minutes

Servings: 4 Servings

Calories: 505 kcal per serving

Ingredients

1 ½ Tablespoon - salt
2 Tbsps - extra-virgin olive oil
4 Slice - bacon
5 cloves - garlic
4 - eggs
1 ¼ Cup - finely grated Parmesan cheese
½ cup - Italian parsley
1 Pound - spaghetti
¼ Teaspoon - freshly ground black pepper

Instructions

Bring 4 qt. hot tap water and 1 1/2 Tbsp. salt to a boil in a covered 6- to 8-qt. pot. Meanwhile, prepare the sauce. Heat olive oil in a large frying pan over medium heat. Add bacon and cook, stirring frequently, until crispy, 5-7 minutes. Add garlic and remove pan from heat; the hot bacon fat will cook the garlic.
In a large bowl, whisk eggs to blend. Add Parmesan and parsley and whisk together. Set aside.
When the water comes to a boil, add spaghetti and cook, stirring occasionally, until barely tender to bite (al dente), 8-9 minutes. Scoop out and reserve 1/2 cup cooking water. Drain pasta and return to pot.
Add bacon, garlic, and bacon drippings to spaghetti along with half of the reserved pasta cooking water, and toss with tongs to coat. Whisk the remaining reserved pasta cooking water into the egg-cheese mixture. Pour over pasta and toss to coat. Season with the remaining 1/2 tsp. salt, if you like. If you didn’t use pepper bacon, also add freshly ground pepper to the pasta and toss again. Serve immediately.