Carbonara with no cream

[chesterfuckingdraws]

I believe traditionally carbonara doesn't have cream in the sauce but I've always used it.
We're trying to be healthier but really fancy a good bowl of pasta for tea.

Is carbonara with no cream nice?
Is it as easy as the recipes suggest?
Will we disappointed?

DH is sceptical and is considering a McDonald's for dessert already!

Never had it with cream. I think the best recipe is Carluccio's. He's very sniffy about using cream in the description!

antonio-carluccio.co.uk/recipes/spaghetti-alla-carbonara/

Carbonara with no cream - aka "Carbonara".

Yes, it's nice. Just make sure you've taken the pan off the heat before you add the egg so you don't inadvertently make spaghetti with scrambled egg. That still tastes ok tbh but not as nice as the silky sauce you get when you do it correctly!

Carbonara - beaten eggs and parmesan. But not sure it's much more healthy.
Drop hot cooked pasta into a bowl, stir in beaten eggs that have had parmesan (I use fresh packet stuff that's in a sort of dust form) mixed thru.
Sauce will thicken after a few moments, so even if it seems sloppy add a few spoons of starchy-pasta water. Lardons and peas are good additions.

Cream fraiche we use

I found a slimming world recipe for it recently where the sauce is made of an egg and Primula light beaten together, its very nice actually!

@WingBingo oh yes with egg all the way. Amazing. Although I like an egg on a pizza too. Cream in a carbonara 🤢

There's no cream in carbonara, just egg and cheese and a bit of the pasta water.

And lardons.

Pecorino
Parmesan
Eggs
Pancetta
Salt and pepper.

My dad's recipe from a decades out-of-print cookbook always been a success. Enjoy the recipe with his cooking tips and unique tone!

450-500g spaghetti (vermicelli works better, but is hard to find; they have stopped selling it because I like it)
4 eggs
225g bacon
5 cloves garlic
60-90g freshly grated parmesan or asiago cheese, with more to serve
Pepper to taste

Cut the uncooked bacon crosswise into thin slices and fry over low heat, stirring to separate the slices. Don't get it completely crispy, but it should be beyond the chewy-fatty stage. If you don't almost have the pasta done when this is done, put it on the lowest heat possible while you do the rest.

Beat the eggs with a whisk or fork. Finely chop the garlic. Boil water and cook the spaghetti. When the pasta is almost done, add the garlic to the bacon, raising the heat if necessary to cook the garlic.

Drain the pasta and dump it back into the cooking pot. Pour the bacon, grease and all, into the pasta. Immediately add the beaten eggs and stir like a wild man; the idea is to scramble the eggs in little bits with the bacon and grease.

Once this seems to have stabilized, sprinkle the cheese in and stir until it is incorporated. Add pepper to taste, and salt, if you somehow are so salt-deprived that the salt in the bacon is not enough.

Serve from the cooking vessel with extra cheese at the table.

Felicity Cloake in The Guardian has the perfect recipe.

It’s just two whole eggs, one yolk, cubed pancetta, handful of percorino and spaghetti.

Mix the eggs, yolk and most of the pecorino. Cook the spaghetti til al dente. Retain a cup of cooking water. In a seperate pan cook the pancetta until golden and crisp. Take the pan off the heat and toss the pasta through. Then mix through the egg mixture. Return to a low heat and keep mixing until the sauce thickens. Add cooking water in small amount to loosen sauce if it becomes too claggy. It should be obvious when the sauce is cooked. Don’t stop stirring!

@sushisuperstar I love egg yolk running through lots of things. Yum