One of my all-time favourite pasta recipes is carbonara, and it is even more delicious when made homemade. So how can you go wrong with this dish with prosciutto, onion, garlic, salt, pepper, egg and parmesan or Reggiano? Well, maybe with the calorie count, but not with the taste.
Pasta Carbonara
Print RecipeIngredients
- 1 box of spaghetti pasta
- 1 large onion
- 2 large cloves of garlic
- 4 ounces of prosciutto, diced
- Approximately 1 cup pasta water, reserved after cooking the pasta
- 2 eggs, whisked
- 2 tablespoons of extra virgin olive oil
- 1/2 tablespoon of butter
- Grated parmesan or Reggiano, to taste
- Ground black pepper and kosher salt, to taste
- Chopped fresh rosemary and thyme to taste
Instructions
- Cube the prosciutto. In a skillet, heat the olive oil and butter over medium heat. Cook the prosciutto thoroughly. Meanwhile, heat the water for pasta. Salt it generously. Cook the pasta and drain it when it’s al dente. Reserve the pasta water.
- Cook the prosciutto until it’s golden and a bit crispy. Then add the onions and minced garlic. Add salt and pepper to taste. You may need to add a bit more olive oil to the pan to cook the onions — use your judgment if you do.
- Continue cooking until the onions are translucent. Then, turn the heat down to low and add the pasta.
- Toss the pasta, coating it thoroughly. Remove from heat. Pour the egg over the dish and toss quickly and thoroughly. The heat from the pasta will cook the egg. Be sure to toss the pasta quickly, so you don’t end up with bits of scrambled egg in your pasta. The egg will bind the pasta together.
- Add as much of the pasta water as you need to moisten the pasta. Add it in phases, as too much will make the dish watery and runny. Toss the pasta a final time. Add more salt and pepper as needed, tasting to ensure you don’t over-season the dish.
- Sprinkle generously with grated parmesan or Reggiano. Season with a bit of fresh rosemary and thyme if you like. Sprinkle a little more parmesan on top and enjoy.
