Tagliatelle Carbonara - A Recipe

There are a few reasons why I have never attempted to cook a carbonara before the first being every pre-made carbonara I had tasted was overly creamy, sickly and heavy which kinda but me off the dish. The other reason was because it always seemed a fiddly and easy to screw up....well boy was I wrong.

When looking for a recipe I came across several different variations using different ingredients some used eggs some used cream others contained wine, being a bit confused on which one to try or which was more authentic I ended up combining them a bit and it turned out perfectly delicious. So here is what you will need:

• Dried or fresh tagliatelle.
• Bacon lardons.
• Handful of mushrooms.
• 1 clove of garlic.
• 100ml of white wine.
• A splash of double cream.
• 3 eggs yolks.
• A large handful of grated or shaved parmesan. 
• Freshly ground pepper.

Firstly put a pan of water on to boil for your tagliatelle then fry your bacon for 5 minutes or until slightly crispy, then add some sliced mushrooms and diced garlic. Once your mushroom have cooked for a few minutes add 100ml of white wine and cook out the alcohol for another 5 minutes. 

Add your pasta to your boiling water, remember that dried pasta takes a little longer and fresh pasta will be ready in a matter of minutes. Next separate 3 eggs keeping the egg yolks in a bowl, you can freeze the egg whites and make meringue with them another day. Add to your egg yolks the parmesan cheese and a generous amount of black pepper and combine. 

Add a small splash of double cream to your bacon mixture then tip in your drained tagliatelle reserving some of the pasta water incase your sauce needs loosening. Give everything a good mix and take off the heat, then you get your parmesan and egg yolk mixture and stir this into your pasta also. The residual heat from the pasta will cook the egg and melt the cheese leaving a rich creamy sauce. If it seems too thick and cloying add a small amount of the pasta water to loosen and then dish it up!

Carbonara is such a delicious meal and now I have made it fresh I can safely say that it is so much better then those overly creamy stodgy jared sauces you can buy, it honestly tastes completely different. This sauce is rich yet surprisingly light and packed full of flavour and so much simpler to do then I expected and ridiculous quick too! Give it a go you wont regret it!

Thank you for reading. 

LouLou.