A spaghetti carbonara

When you are short on time in the evenings, as I invariably am, it’s helpful to have a couple of quick supper ideas up your sleeve. This carbonara recipe is very tasty, and uses ingredients which we always have in the larder and fridge.

Many recipes for spaghetti carbonara list cream amongst the ingredients required to make this dish. In fact, several recipes suggest that you require a small carton of cream to serve 4 people. This makes for a very tasty dish, but I prefer a lighter version for every day eating. With all the recipe testing I am doing at the moment for my books, I need to keep an eye on what I am eating. And so, I turned to my copy of Italian Food, by Elizabeth David (Penguin, 1989) and I see that her recipe, wonderfully entitiled “Maccheroni alla Carbonara” is cream-free. I have therefore based my version on Mrs. David’s, with the welcome addition of a glass of wine and plenty of garlic.

Spaghetti Carbonara

Serves 4

Ingredients:

• 250g bacon, cut into strips and fat removed (leave the fat on if you prefer)
• 4 garlic cloves, crushed
• ½ small glass dry white wine
• 2 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
• 2 free range large eggs
• 50g freshly grated Parmesan
• 500g spaghetti (feel free to use gluten-free spaghetti if required)
• 2 tbsp chopped parsley

Method:

1)   Place the spaghetti on to cook

2)   Fry garlic gently in the olive oil until it turns soft and fragrant.

3)   Add the bacon and fry until it’s brown and starts to crisp, then add the wine.

4)   Crack the eggs into a warm serving bowl and whisk with a fork. Add parmesan and season with pepper.

5)   Add the cooked, drained spaghetti to the bowl, pour over the eggs, add the bacon and toss well. Sprinkle with parsley before serving