This is the classic carbonara and for deliciousness and economy you can’t do better.
Serves 2
120g dried linguine or spaghetti
Sea salt and black pepper
2 tablespoons olive oil
75g streaky bacon, chopped.
50g peas
1 egg
2/3 scallions, trimmed and chopped
80g grated parmesan
Bring a large pot of water to the boil and add a generous amount of salt. Cook the pasta until almost al dente. Heat a large pan with the olive oil and cook the bacon until just crispy, add in the peas and cook for another minute, don’t drain off the fat.
Whisk the egg and scallions together and season with plenty of black pepper. Now this bit is important for perfect carbonara and not scrambled egg! Take off about a cup of the pasta water before you drain the pasta and add a couple of tablespoons of the pasta water to the bacon and peas. Blend well together, this will make the bacon fat lighter and creamier by emulsifying it with water. Take the pan off the heat, now add some of the bacon fat into the beaten egg, this will gently warm up the egg mixture so that it doesn’t scramble when you add it to the hot pan.
Mix the pasta, cheese and egg into the bacon and peas, plus a few more splashes of pasta water and keep tossing until the pasta is coated in a creamy sauce. Taste and adjust seasoning with more salt and black pepper as needed. Serve now, it will not wait. Another note, retaining the pasta water is really important as the starch in the water gives you the creamy sauce. Do this for all pasta dishes and see the difference. Also remove the pan from the heat before you add the cheese, this will allow the cheese to melt nicely and not become stringy
