This is a simple recipe you can make with items you might already have in your pantry and refrigerator: Pasta, egg, bacon, grated parmesan cheese, parsley, garlic powder, and olive oil.
Ingredients
- 4 oz linguine
- 4 strips of thick cut bacon, diced*
- 2 tablespoons of finely chopped parsley, plus additional for garnish**
- 1 tsp garlic powder
- 2 tbs grated parmesan cheese, plus additional for garnish
- 2 tsp olive oil, divided, plus additional for drizzling
- salt
- pepper
Directions
- Cook linguine in a pot of heavily salted water and according to instructions on the box. Once done cooking, reserve 1 cup of pasta water then drain the pasta and set aside.
- While the pasta is cooking, heat 1 tsp olive oil in a heavy bottomed skillet over medium high heat. Add bacon to the pan and cook for 8 minutes, or unitl crispy. Stir occasionally to prevent burning.
- Once the bacon is finished cooking remove from skillet and place on a paper towel lined plate. Pour off and discard any extra bacon fat from the skillet and return it to the stove.
- In a separate bowl, combine egg, parsley, garlic powder, cheese, and 1/4 cup of the reserved pasta water. Thoroughly whisk the ingredients until well combined. Set aside.
- Heat the skillet to low (as low as the heat can go) and add in your cooked pasta along with 1/4 cup of the reserved pasta water, stir to combine.
- Add bacon to the pasta stiring until reheated, about 1 minute.
- Turn off the heat and the egg mixture to the skillet, stiring quickly to coat the pasta. The residual heatfrom the pan will cook the egg.
- Stir in the remaining 1 tsp of olive oil to the pasta and add salt and pepper to taste.
- Serve the pasta and top with fresh parsley, a little cracked pepper, and another drizzle of olive oil.
*6 strips of traditional bacon can be used to replace the thick cut bacon.
** 1 tablespoon of dried parsley can replace fresh parsley 
What makes a carbonara a carbonara? Pasta, egg, pork, and cheese. With these simple ingredients you can come up with a vaiety of carbonara combinations such as bacon and parmesean, or sausage and pecorino… The opportunities are endless.
I’ve decided to use basic kitchen staples for this carbonara combination. I used thick cut bacon for my recipe but you can use any type of bacon and it will come out almost exactly the same. While fresh parmesan cheese is amazing, I used the grated kind that comes in the container with the green lid (you know what I’m talking about). Although I use fresh parsley in my recipe, dried parsley will work fine as well (just use 1 tablespoon instead of two). You can use any pasta that you’d like for this recipe as well (just make sure you’re cooking the equivalent to two servings).
2 responses to “Bacon Carbonara”
Love carbonara, your recipe sounds so delicious that I have to prepare it this week to try it out 🙂
Thank you! If you try the recipe out please report back and let me know how you like it.