Everyone loves Italian food.
They’re simple food yet tasty to the last bite. But I don’t think cooking spaghetti bolognaise is a quick affair, especially if I want to chop fresh tomatoes and mince some meat for the bolognaise sauce after a long day at the office.
Recently, I came across a quick spaghetti carbonara recipe in an Aussie magazine. Decided to try it out since it didn’t need much time and I had most of the ingredients.
It took all of 20 minutes to cook!
Taste-wise, it was divine. Creamy with just enough sauce to coat each strand of pasta, it had the right balance with the smoky saltiness of streaky bacon. If you want to indulge, get prosciutto ham.
If you like a creamy white sauce pasta without hassle (that is, without stirring carbonara sauce over a stove for the longest time), this is the carbonara recipe to die for. This is the kind of food you want to indulge if you need a carbo refill for energy. (My cousin makes a good carbonara sauce but hers takes sometime to cook so here is my cheat sheet recipe.)
Spaghetti Carbonara
(serves 2 quite amply!)
120 gm pasta of your choice (spaghetti or fettucini)
How to cook pasta:
Bring a vat of water to boil with a teaspoon of salt and a dash of oil. Once boiling, throw in your pasta. Oil helps separate the strands of pasta. Any oil will do (don’t waste your extra virgin olive oil in this please).
Cook until pasta is al-dente (firm but not soggy) which is probably 10 – 12 minutes.
Do not cover pasta pot or your water will boil over. When your pasta is cooking, shift gears to make the carbonara sauce.
For super-quick carbonara sauce:
2 eggs, beaten well
1 cup grated parmesan cheese
5-6 strips streaky bacon, cut into 2 inch strips
2-3 cloves garlic, sliced
2 tablespoon butter
chopped parsley for garnishing (I prefer coriander for more oomph)
1 tablespoon chili flakes
salt & pepper
black pepper, freshly ground
1. Mix beaten egg with 1/2 cup parmesan cheese and season with some salt and pepper. Set aside.
2. In a pan, melt butter and saute garlic until fragrant. Add bacon. Fry until bacon starts to get crispy. Turn off fire but let pan (and its contents) remain on the stove.
3. Remove pasta from boiling water. Place into a bowl. Working quickly, combine with beaten egg mixture (see Step 1). Mix well.
4. Pour pasta and egg mix into warm pan (from Step 2). Mix well to combine. The heat from the boiling water and the pan will partially cook the egg. Add in chili flakes, salt, black pepper and remaining parmesan. Dish up and serve warm.
Note: The eggs will coat the pasta and make it lovely and creamy.