Quick Dinner Ideas You'll Love: Classic Bucatini Carbonara

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Looking for quick dinner ideas? This bucatini carbonara is rich, creamy, and even brings a little heat (from the peppercorns) - perfect dish for fall/winter.

I love Italian food! Lets face it, Italians make food that tastes great but is easy/quick to make. Also, who doesn't love pasta?!

While planning this dish for the blog, the inevitable question came up, "where in Italy does carbonara come from?" According to records, the recipe seems to originate from the Rome region, Lazio, to be exact. Also, it turns out that the recipe for carbonara doesn't start showing up in Italian cookbooks until the 1950s. Some say that the dish was highly influenced by the American soldiers in Italy during WWII, who brought bacon over. We do love our bacon!

With the short history of carbonara out of the way, lets jump into tips and ingredients!

I usually make this as a side dish as I get a bad case of protein-guilt when I only eat carbs for dinner. If you aren't nutty like me, this can absolutely serve as main dish. A good rule of thumb to follow is if you are having pasta as a side dish, divvy out a 70-80g portion of dried pasta per person, if serving as your main dish, divvy out a 100g portion of dry pasta per person. Trust me, if you follow this, you'll find that it is the exact perfect amount!

As for ingredients, you can use bacon, pancetta, or guanciale (salt-cured meat product made from pork cheeks or jowls). Additionally, you want to use pecorino romano over parmesan, pecorino is saltier and sharp, whereas parmesan pulls more umami... however, I have heard that some Italians use a mixture of both. You do you! Last but not least, a good quality pasta! I love the Rustichella d'Abruzzo brand, it's sold on Amazon and specialty stores.

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Quick Dinner Ideas You'll Love:

Bucatini Carbonara

Serves 4

Ingredients

• 2 oz guanciale/bacon/pancetta, chopped

• 1 tbsp extra virgin olive oil

• 320g dried bucatini pasta

• Water (for boiling)

• 2 egg yolks

• 2 oz Pecorino Romano cheese, grated

• 1 tbsp peppercorns, whole

• 1/2 tsp salt

Instructions

1. Bring a large pot of water to a boil over high heat.

2. In a separate pan, heat the extra virgin olive oil over medium heat. Once warm, add the chopped guanciale.

3. Cook the guanciale until it starts to brown and get crispy. Remove the pan from the heat to let the guanciale and its rendered fat cool slightly. This prevents it from cooking the eggs when combined later.

4. Once the water is boiling, add the bucatini and cook according to the package instructions until al dente.

5. While the pasta is cooking and the guanciale is cooling, mix the egg yolks, grated Pecorino Romano, peppercorns, and salt in a large bowl until well combined.

6. When the pasta has about a minute left to cook, add the cooled guanciale/bacon/pancetta and its rendered fat to the egg mixture in the bowl. ***You are supposed to put the rendered fat into the mixture as well, I omitted some as I apparently also have high fat guilt. 🫠

7. Drain the pasta, reserving a bit of pasta water. Add the pasta (along with some of the reserved pasta water) to the bowl with the egg and guanciale mixture.

8. Toss the pasta in the bowl, allowing the heat from the pasta to gently cook the egg mixture and create a creamy sauce. Add more pasta water as needed to reach the desired consistency.

9. Serve immediately by twirling the pasta onto plates.

   
   

Buon appetito!

Do you get protein-guilt when you only eat carbs for dinner?