Do you want to make a decadent pasta dish for your next date night? Or perhaps you want to impress your friends at a dinner party? Either way, this fettucine carbonara recipe is ideal.

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The sauce is creamy and indulgent, with crispy bacon and flavours of rosemary and garlic. Better still it is simple and easy to follow this recipe and it is one that you will want to make again and again.

What Do You Need?

To make this fettucine carbonara recipe you will need a saucepan to boil the pasta and a bowl to make the sauce. You will need a large frying pan to cook the bacon and combine all of the ingredients. Finally, you will also need a chopping board and a knife to prepare the garlic and the bacon.

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Tips And Tricks

If you want to serve restaurant quality fettuccine carbonara every time then follow these tips and tricks.

Pasta – The pasta should be cooked through, but still retain some firmness. This is called al dente. To check if the pasta is cooked, take a piece of fettuccine between your forefinger and your thumb and squeeze it. It should break fairly easily but still require some pressure. Once the pasta is cooked don’t leave it sat in the water – drain it straight away.
Sauce – Always add the pasta to the sauce, not the sauce to the pasta. When you add the fettuccine to the saucepan, it prevents any of the flavoursome oil being wasted. The oil will have taken on the flavour of the bacon, garlic and rosemary, and these flavours will all be transferred to the pasta.
Heat – You must remove the pan from the heat before you add the creamy, eggy mixture. The residual heat from the pasta will warm up the sauce, but if there is too much heat then the eggs will scramble. This will give the sauce the wrong texture.
Separating egg yolks – If you are not familiar with separating the egg yolks from the whites, there is a very simple method you can use. Gently crack the egg over a bowl, but don’t tip it out. Carefully transfer the yolk from one half of the shell to the other, making sure you don’t pierce it. As you move the egg yolk from side to side, the egg white will drip off and land in the bowl. Keep doing this until only the yolk is left in the shell.

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How Can You Customise This Recipe

If you want to make this fettucine carbonara recipe your own, there are a few things you can try.

Pasta – This recipe works great with fettuccine, but you could choose a different type of pasta. If you want long pasta, try spaghetti or tagliatelle. If you prefer smaller types of pasta, make it with penne or fusilli.
Bacon – You can use chopped up bacon rashers, or you can use bacon lardons. If you want to switch up the flavour you could even try making it with chorizo– this will add a spicy kick to the dish.
Herbs – Rosemary is used in this recipe, but you can use a different type of fresh herb if you want to. Sage is a great choice, as well as thyme, parsley or basil. Make sure you use fresh herbs, not dried.

Take the effort out of straining your pasta with one of these ingenious Pasta Pots. The holes in the lid stop the water from boiling over AND allow you to strain your pasta without transferring it to a colander.

Chilli – If you like spicy pasta dishes, you could add some chilli flakes or chilli powder to this meal to give it a kick.
Parmesan – The parmesan cheese gives this pasta sauce its signature flavour. You can use more cheese than the recipe states if you want a stronger cheesy flavour, or you can switch it out for a different type of cheese. Cheddar cheese will create a tangy flavour. A soft cheese like ricotta or mascarpone will give the sauce a much softer, creamier taste. You could go in a different direction and use a strong blue cheese.
Garnish – More grated cheese makes a great garnish, along with some fresh herbs. You could also use some crispy breadcrumbs to introduce a new texture.
Side dishes – This pasta is delicious enough to be served on its own, but you may choose to serve it with a side dish. A basket of bread or some garlic bread allows you to mop up the sauce. You could contrast the creamy sauce with some healthy greens, like some steamed tender-stem broccoli. Alternatively, you might want to make a simple side salad to accompany the pasta dish.

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Fettuccine Carbonara Recipe

Recipe by Faye Keenan

0.0 from 0 votes

Course: Recipes

Servings

servings

Prep time

minutes

Cooking time

minutes

Calories

649

kcal

Ingredients

375 grams Fettuccine pasta (fresh)
20 grams Butter
175 grams Bacon rashers (shortcut, chopped)
2 Garlic cloves (crushed)
2 Teaspoon Rosemary (fresh, finely chopped)
2 Eggs
2 Egg yolks
0.5 Cup Cooking Cream
0.33 Cup Parmesan (grated)
Salt and pepper
Fresh parsley

Directions

Start off by cooking the pasta. Bring a large saucepan of water to the boil, then add the pasta. Reduce the heat slightly to a steady simmer, and cook for the time specified on the packet. When the pasta is cooked, drain it immediately and set aside.
While the pasta is cooking, take a large frying pan and put it on a medium heat. Add the butter, and once the butter has melted add the bacon. Fry the bacon for about 4 minutes until it has started to turn crisp and golden.
Once the bacon is crispy and golden, add the garlic and the rosemary and fry for another minute. This will release the flavors into the oil.
In a bowl, whisk together the eggs, egg yolks, cream and parmesan. Season it with salt and pepper.
Add the cooked pasta to the sauce pan and use tongs to gently toss it in the bacon and oil. Turn off the heat, then add the creamy mixture from the bowl to the pasta. Toss the pasta again to coat it in the creamy sauce.
Serve immediately with more grated parmesan if you want and a garnish of fresh parsley.

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Faye Keenan