This weekend has been a bit wet and cold, so all I wanted do was enjoy some “comfort food”, stay in my warm bed, and watch movies. I needed something quick and tasty, but didn’t fancy chips. Now, most people wouldn’t call this dish comfort food, but it is comforting and perfect for those cold nights; when you’re snuggled up in bed or in front of the fire. So, to cut a long story short, here is this quick and easy, delicious Spaghetti Carbonara –comfort food with a bit of culture.
Preparation & Cooking time: 20 mins
Serves: 4 people
Ingredients
- 400g spaghetti
- 1 tbsp olive oil or vegetable oil
- 200g streaky bacon, chopped
- 2 garlic cloves, finely chopped
- 3 eggs
- 75ml double cream
- 50g parmesan cheese finely grated, plus extra to serve (I actually make this with cheddar cheese sometimes, if I haven’t bought any parmesan, so feel free to use cheddar cheese instead).
- Salt and black pepper
Method
Cook the spaghetti by boiling a large, deep pan of salted water. Break the spaghetti in half (if you need to) and place it in the water. Stir well and cook it according to the packet instructions. Carefully take a few strands of spaghetti out of the water 1-2 mins before the end of cooking and bite into them. Repeat until you think it is properly cooked.
Heat the oil in a frying pan. When hot, tip in the streaky bacon. Fry over a medium heat until the meat has turned lightly golden. Be careful not to crisp the bacon too much; it will be cooked a bit more later on in the recipe. Remove from the heat and set aside.
Now break 2 of the eggs into a mixing bowl, and then carefully discard the egg white of your 3rd egg to separate the yolk. Tip the yolk in with the other eggs and beat them together, add the cream, cheese and salt & pepper to taste.
Finally add the garlic to the bacon and fry over a high heat for 1 min, or until the garlic is cooked and the bacon is warmed through. Drain the spaghetti and tip it back into the hot saucepan – remove from the heat, pour the egg mixture over the spaghetti, followed by hot bacon and garlic; and any remaining fat and oils. Mix well until the sauce has thickened to a smooth, creamy consistency.
Serving
Serve with extra cheese and freshly ground black pepper; and enjoy this gorgeous, creamy bit of heaven on a plate.
Kanta Temba is a cake maker and decorator. She is also the owner and founder of Kanta Kakes – cake shop.
You can find her work on www.kantakakes.com. Follow her on twitter @KantaKakes and Instagram @KantaTemba.
