Good Recipe for Carbonnara

[buttons]

My boyfriend loves Marks & Sparks Carbonnara sauce (im not a big fan) im sure what he pays for it could be dramatically reduced if he made the sauce himself.  Can anyone suggest a good recipe to follow.

[ewand]

It's dead easy to make, and there are loads of different interpretations, but i'll give you mine.....though not for the dieters!

Chuck two or three fat cloves of garlic into a pan with some olive oil.....chuck in some pancetta or smoked bacon, and loads of pepper, no salt.......once the bacons fried of a bit chuck in a handfull of spring onions (scallions) and stir a bit before adding some double (or single) cream and a bit of milk.  Bubble away a bit, then chuck in some fresh chopped thyme and then a handful of grated parmasan (fresh) or strong chedder......pepper loads again then mix with tagliatelle and serve.

If the sauce is too thin, sift a tiny bit of flour in to it......I also add chilli, but then again, I add chilli to everything.

Enjoy.........

[evertonsue]

Fry bacon/onion in oil then put aside on a warm plate. Fry mushrooms in butter then add with the other mixture. Cook spagetti. Final part you mix together Parmason cheese/Egg/Double Cream then stir in the cold mixture while at the same time tossing the spagetti with the bacon/mush/onions. Its the best ever Carbonara I've tasted but bear in mind its quite fatening which is why it taste soooo good cause its soooooo bad

[camille79]

I go for the purist version (serves 2) - Grill or fry some thin smoked streaky or pancetta until crisp and crumble or slice.  Mix together a small carton of double cream, 2-3 egg yolks (discard the whites) a handful of parmesan, some finely chopped parsley and lots of black pepper in a bowl. Meanwhile boil your spaghetti (I sometimes add a branch of thyme, a couple of juniper berries, a clove and a bashed clove of garlic as well as salt to the water which gives a lovely flavour) until al dente.  When the pasta is cooked, drain then (away from the heat) pour over the egg/cream/cheese mix.  Stir through and serve with extra parmesan and some black pepper (carbonara is a reference to the coal miners who traditionally cooked this dish - the pepper represents the specks of coal dust from their clothes!)

[smee.tracey]

And now how to make commercial carbonnara. White sauce, add ham and tomato. That's it.