Why cook spaghetti carbonara?

We all love cooking when it’s easy, right? Spaghetti carbonara is perhaps one of the easiest dishes you can make in your kitchen. It can take as quick as 15 minutes if you get the timing right, the sauce doesn’t require much cooking and it only takes a few simple ingredients from the grocery store. Sure – it’s not the healthiest dish you can treat yourself to. But, when you’re crushed for time at the end of a stressful work day, why not reward yourself with this rich, cheesy goodness? This is spaghetti carbonara, the ham and cheese sandwich of pastas and an absolute savior of dinners.  

A great dish to cook while traveling

When I’m traveling, whether it be on a road trip or in another country, I still cook occasionally to make my vacation more economical. However, when you’re in a new place it's often hard to find certain ingredients. Fresh fruits and vegetables can be harder to come by, so dishes like a homemade marinara pasta are tougher to shop for. However, wherever you are, whether it be in South America or a gas station in the middle of the American desert you’ll likely be able to find pasta, cheese and eggs. This is why spaghetti carbonara is one of my go to recipes: it's simple, fast, cheap and I seem to somehow always have access to the necessary ingredients.

Practice your knife skills

If you have recently purchased a HuBee Toolset, this is the perfect recipe to practice your paring knife skills. This knife will slice right through your bacon, ham or prosciutto. This knife is especially fun to use on a stack of bacon, cut it in strips and then cut those stacked strips into bits! It comes with a sheath, too, which is an added bonus for if you want to bring it camping, on a road trip, or in a checked bag. 

Are the eggs in carbonara raw?

This is a common question I get when I prepare spaghetti carbonara. The eggs will partially cook in the heat of the pasta, but the goal is not to have your pasta turn to scrambled eggs. Instead, they are acting more as a binding agent. Still, if you are susceptible to the possible risks of raw eggs, or you're simply weirded out by it, maybe you should steer clear of this dish. 

Recipe 

Time: 15-30 Minutes, Depending on how well you multitask

Ingredients: 

• 1 Yellow Onion
• Bacon or Pancetta (150g)
• 4 eggs
• 100 milliliters cream
• Salt and Pepper for taste
• 100 grams parmesan cheese, pre-grated or you can grate yourself
• 500 grams of spaghetti
• Oil for frying

Steps: 

• Warm up water and a dash of salt in a pot until it boils. Add in your pasta and set a timer for the time stated on your spaghetti’s package. Stir occasionally. You can do the other steps while the pasta cooks. Check the pasta every so often and when it's soft to the core, drain your pasta into a colander. 
• Dice the onion. Warm up a tablespoon or two of oil of your preference in a medium frying pan. When it starts sizzling, put the onion in and fry until transparent.
• Chop up your bacon or pancetta into small squares, about 1/4 to 1/3 inch in length. Then, fry the pieces in a separate pan until crispy. If you want to save on dishes, fry in the same pan as the onions–just transfer the onions out before you fry the bacon.
• In a mixing bowl, whip the eggs with the parmesan, milk, salt and pepper until smooth.
• Add the pasta into the same frying pan as the bacon. Add in onions and the mixture of eggs and mix thoroughly. The eggs should slightly cook in the hot pasta. When you have a consistent mixture, your dish is ready to eat. Enjoy!