Tony’s Carbonara
This Pasta Carbonara is always a crowd pleaser and is the perfect dish to serve at your holiday gathering!
Our friend Tony gave us this fail proof recipe after hosting us for an awesome dinner party that they threw right before one of our trips to Italy this past year. Since then, it’s been one of our go-to recipes for gatherings when you’d rather spend time enjoying wine and appetizers with your friends than working away in the kitchen. One of my favorite things about this recipe, is you can prep 70% of the ingredients ahead of time.
Paired with a nice salad and a great bottle (or 2) of wine, no one will walk away from the table hungry!
Ingredients
- 1 Medium Onion - diced
- 1/2 LB Bacon or Pancetta - chopped
- 4 Fresh Egg Yolks
- 1 Cup Chicken Stock (Better Than Bouillon recommended)
- 1 LB Pasta (Thick Spaghetti recommended)
- 2 Cups Parmesan (freshly grated)
- Olive Oil
- Pepper
- Salt
- Fresh Parsley
Directions
1. Add water to a large pot & salt generously – bring to a boil.
2. While waiting for water to come to a boil, dice onion, chop bacon and separate egg yolks from egg whites.
3. Begin cooking diced onion in deep skillet with a small amount of olive oil, seasoned with a pinch of salt and pepper.
4. Once onions are translucent (about 2-3 minutes), add bacon and cook until bacon is slightly crispy. (We have had best results cooking the onions on one side of the pan and the bacon on the other and mix at the end).
When your bacon is about half way done, add your pasta to the boiling water.
5. Once your bacon & onion mixture is ready, turn the skillet heat to medium-low and add chicken broth to bacon and onion mixture and bring to a simmer.
6. When pasta is very al dente (about 2/3 done), reserve two cups of pasta water and set aside. Add pasta to the bacon, onion and chicken broth and allow it to absorb the chicken broth (stir periodically). When the pasta has absorbed most of the liquid (about 5 minutes), take the skillet off the heat.
7. Add the egg yolks stirring rapidly to prevent them from over cooking. You want to create a creamy consistency.
8. Slowly add about one cup of the Parmesan cheese and continue stirring. If pasta is too dry add small amounts of the reserved pasta water and stir.
Serve Carbonara in family style serving dish and top pasta with more cheese and fresh parsley!
Note from Sara: I prefer to cook my bacon in the oven about 85% of the way, instead of frying it with the onions. I feel like this is a little faster and the bacon cooks more evenly.