The best classic pasta carbonara of your life (without cream!)

A closeup of a plate of pasta carbonara without cream with a fork in it

The best classic pasta carbonara of your life (without cream!)

No cream, no heavy sauce, just a really good eggs-only classic pasta carbonara. It's a real crowd pleaser - both light and decadent at the same time - and takes just 15 minutes to make!

Course easy main meal

Cuisine Italian

Prep Time 3 minutes

Cook Time 12 minutes

Total Time 15 minutes

Servings

Calories 541kcal

Author Helen

Equipment

Ingredients

3.5 ounces bacon or pancetta chopped
2 tablespoons butter
2 garlic cloves peeled but left whole
2 eggs lightly whisked
⅓ cup grated or shaved parmesan cheese
4½ ounces linguine or spaghetti, or any pasta of your choice
salt and freshly ground black pepper
a little chopped fresh parsley optional

to serve (optional)

simple green salad; OR
green vegetables

cups/ounces - grams/ml

Instructions

Cook the pasta according to the cooking instructions. Whisk half of the parmesan into the eggs, grind in some salt and pepper, and set aside.
While the pasta cooks, melt the butter in a large frying pan. Add the bacon and garlic cloves and let cook, stirring often, for about five minutes until golden and starting to crisp. Then throw away the garlic.
Take about half of the bacon out of the pan with a slotted spoon and set aside. Take the pan off the heat (very important!).
Use kitchen tongs or a spaghetti server spoon to lift the pasta straight out of the cooking water and into the bacon pan.
As quickly as you can, pour the eggs and parmesan mixture over the hot pasta in the pan. Also add a little more pasta cooking water. Briefly toss everything together so that the eggs `just` cook (without scrambling!).
Serve out a little of the pasta onto each dish. Top with a little of the reserved bacon and parmesan and grind over a little more salt and pepper. Top this layer with more pasta and the rest of the bacon and parmesan.
Scatter with a little fresh parsley if using. Serve immediately by itself or with a simple green salad or green vegetables.

Video

Notes

What kind of pasta to use

I really like to use linguine. Spaghetti works well too, of course, but you can use any pasta you like. Carbonara sauce is both light enough and rich enough for any type of pasta.

Your recipe is only for 2 people. Can I make it for more?

Absolutely! Just use the slider next to the 'servings' label above to change the ingredient amounts for the number of people you want to make the recipe for.

I sometimes like to make this recipe just for myself. In this case slide the 'servings' slider to just '1'.

What kind of bacon to use

I like to use 'middle' smoked bacon as it's nice and thick and has a lot of taste. Traditionally streaky bacon is used to make carbonara, but I prefer less fat! Really any kind of bacon is fine. If the bacon is thin, however, be careful not to overcook it. Crispy is OK, but burnt to a crisp, not so much! ;-)

Ham's OK too. I'd advise choosing a good quality ham and just cooking it for 2 or 3 minutes to release some flavour into the butter.

How to make sure you don't get scrambled eggs instead of a loose, silky and creamy sauce

My best advice is to read carefully through the recipe instructions before starting and try to memorize the steps.

It's really important to take the pan off the heat before you add the eggs. Lift the pasta straight out of the cooking water into the bacon pan so that some water goes into the pan. Add a little more of the cooking water as you add the eggs.

Work quickly and confidently!

Nutrition