I used to know Pasta or Spaghetti Carbonara mainly from the restaurants' menus, but then time passed and I realised it's a pretty easy to make dish which would be such a pity not to cook at home as well. You can use this spaghetti Carbonara recipe to diverse a bit the family menu - I know pasta with cheese is really good, but some pasta Carbonara will bring something different to it.
You can use any kind of pasta you like - spaghetti, penne, fusilli etc. - the taste stays the same, what matters here is to cook it al dente, don't let it boil for too long.
Pasta Carbonara is served hot right away, so the process of making has to be well structured and you need to pay attention to each step.
First we sort out all the ingredients, then we prepare them because we want to have everything ready for when we eventually start the cooking.
So, here we are. In a bowl, beat 3 yolks with cream, salt and pepper.
Julienne the bacon, chop the garlic.
Cook pasta according to the instructions on the package - normally, bring some water with salt to a boil, then add the pasta and cook at a constant simmer, but make sure you don't cook it for too long.
When ready, drain well and put aside.
Now quickly fry the bacon in a pan or skillet with heated oil, stir periodically.
Take out 2-3 spoons of bacon and put aside, we will use it to decorate the plates.
When bacon turns to brown and starts to release fat, add garlic - let for 1 more minute and keep stirring.
Add pasta to the bacon in the pan. Stir well and cook for 2-3 minutes more. We do this because, meanwhile, pasta has cooled down a bit and we want it hot again.
Now remove the pan from the heat.
Quickly pour in the yolk and cream mixture and stir well.
If you don't remove the pan from the heat, pasta will be dried and resembling an omelette, which we don't want.
So, pasta needs to be heated and then removed from the heat.
And it's ready, serve immediately, with grated cheese on top (preferably parmesan), a little ground pepper and the bacon we saved for decorating the plates.
Enjoy!