Carbonara

Pasta dishes are quick and tasty.  This Carbonara recipe is one of the most popular dishes taught during the Transition Year Cooking Course. I suspect it is why parents love the course too! We filmed the video to show how the recipe uses supermarket ingredients that are easy to source. Even if you wish to cook a gluten free pasta dish.

Ingredients

400g spaghetti (or linguine)
2 tbsp olive oil
8 smoked rashers, cubed (or 250g 'pancetta lardons')
1 tsp dried chilli flakes
2 cloves garlic, crushed
4 eggs, lightly whisked
100g parmesan cheese, very finely grated
salt and freshly cracked black pepper

Method

1. Put a large saucepan of water on to boil.  Add 1 tablespoon of salt.
2. While the water is heating up, whisk the eggs and combine with the finely grated parmesan.
3. Crush the garlic and cut the rashers into small cubes.
4. When the saucepan of water has come to a vigorous boil, add the pasta into the boiling water, return it to a rolling boil and simmer pasta for approx 8-10 minutes, until al dente (or cook as per packet instructions).
5. Over a medium heat, fry the rashers and chillies in the olive oil for 8 minutes approx. (depending on thickness etc), adding the garlic towards the end.  Remove from the heat, set aside and keep warm.
6. Once cooked, reserve half a cup of the cooking liquid and set it aside. Then, drain the pasta and while still hot, return it to the saucepan over a low heat. Drizzle with a slick of olive oil.
7. While the pasta is still very hot, immediately add the eggs and quickly stir through the pasta for 1 minute.  As soon as the eggs start to turn opaque, turn off the heat and stir in the Parmesan until it melts (add an extra slick of the reserved cooking liquid it at the end if there is not enough moisture).
8. Lastly, stir in the fried ingredients.  Season and serve immediately.