Sunday, June 24, 2012

Quick Lunch: Fusilli pasta carbonara

I love eating pasta carbonara but have not made it in a while as I do not usually have all the ingredients at hand (not something I can just throw together as I don't buy bacon often). Last weekend, I decided to make it for my parents (dad loves pasta too and mum likes anything creamy) so I went to the supermarket to get some streaky pork bacon.

Although cream is not commonly used in Italian recipes (theirs is usually just egg and cheese) however variations outside Italy often use cream and that's the way I like it. Most recipes would ask to use single cream, however it's quite difficult to get hold of this in KL hence I substituted with whipping cream.

Since you do not actually "cook" the eggs for this carbonara sauce, I would suggest that you use pasteurised eggs. You can get this easily from any KL supermarket nowadays. I used fusilli (spiral) pasta as the twists and turns are good for holding the pasta sauce. Alternatively, you can use spaghetti and fettucini.

The mint leaves is an inspiration from one of Jamie Oliver's carbonara recipe, and we had loads handy from our herb garden. I also thought it added some colour and spruced up this pasta dish.

This carbonara sauce is quite light yet creamy at the same time. My parents enjoyed this pasta carbonara tremendously, so I guess I'll be making this again for lunch sometime soon. :)



Fusilli pasta carbonara




Fusilli Pasta Carbonara
Recipe by Baby Sumo
Preparation time: 10 minutes
Cooking time: 15 minutes
Serves 3-4

Ingredients
200g fusilli pasta
2 small eggs, preferably free range or pasteurised
80ml single cream (or whipping cream is fine)
100g streaky bacon, cut into bitesize pieces
1 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
1 garlic clove, finely chopped
125g mushroom (either button or grey/white oyster), sliced thinly
A small handful of parsley, finely chopped (or 1 tsp dried parsley)
2-3 sprigs of mint, washed and dried
Salt and freshly ground pepper
2-3 tbsp of Parmesan

1. In a frying pan, heat the olive oil on medium high heat and add the bacon. Fry the bacon until crisp and remove from heat. Reserve the oil for cooking the mushrooms.

2. Put the mushrooms and garlic in the same frying pan and saute for 2-3 minutes until cooked. Add parsley, season with salt and pepper and remove from heat.

3. Mix cream, eggs, salt and pepper in a small bowl and leave aside.

4. At the same time as cooking the bacon, cook the pasta according to packet instructions in boiling salted water. Remove from heat and place in a large bowl.

5. Add the cream and egg mixure immediately to the pasta, this should be done while pasta is still hot so that the residual heat from the pasta will cook the eggs slightly to give you a silky smooth sauce.

6. Add the bacon and mushrooms and mix well. Garnish with mint leaves and sprinkle with Parmesan cheese. Serve immediately.





Full set of photos can be viewed here. 

*This recipe was featured on Asian Food Channel's Facebook page on 25 June 2012. 

25 comments:

  1. ooo, fusilli's not usually my favorite pasta (i guess i prefer the long-stripped pastas to the shorter pennes, fusillis and rigatonis), but i do like the look of what you made =)

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Oh is there any reason why you don't like fusilli? I don't mind fusilli, but like you, I dont like penne.

      Delete
    2. Baby Sumo: i like my pastas to be long noodles that i can slurp. more comforting and satisfying that way :D

      Delete
  2. Hi, I think it is pastured eggs, not pasteurised. Pasteurised eggs are dead eggs.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Piki pls refer to wiki - Pasteurization is a process for destroying potentially harmful microorganisms in food by applying a precise amount of controlled heat for a specified period. It is commonly used for milk but is also used for more than a dozen other types of foods including eggs.

      Delete
    2. Hi Piki, thanks for visiting and your comment. I have double checked and it is indeed called pasteurised eggs. I have also seen them in the supermarkets in KL.

      Thanks Chloe & Daniel's daddy for the clarification. :)

      Delete
  3. haven't cooked carbonara for a looooong while. Time to rediscover this classic! :)

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. It's so easy! Get some bacon, cream and eggs in the supermarket the next time you go!

      Delete
  4. I don't like my carbonara with cream. I just like it, the way it is. :)

    ReplyDelete
  5. The pasta looks delicious! Always wanted to try to cook carbonara but my family doesn't fancy Italian food. Nevertheless, thanks for sharing the recipe!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. You're most welcome. Is there any reason why they don't like Italian food (too rich?).Well, peoples tastebuds do change over time, so maybe one day you can cook this and they might like it. :D

      Delete
  6. I can't take cheesy food. Maybe some tomato spag next?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. You can actually omit the cheese if you don't like it. I only put very little cheese on mine, and lots on my mums.

      I've got a recipe here for spaghetti bolognese: http://goodyfoodies.blogspot.com/2010/05/i-cooked-spaghetti-bolognese.html

      Delete
  7. Nice with a few fresh herbs on top - for colour and for taste :-)

    ReplyDelete
  8. Yum!! Carbonara reminds me of my first year in Uni when I encountered this dish for the first time. Brings back fond memories! :D Don't cook it as often now as I try not to eat bacon (mushroom version however does appear a lot), but it still remains one of the most comforting dish for me.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Coincidentally I ate my first carbonara in UK also when I was a student. Why don't you eat bacon anymore? I eat it a lot less also, but sometimes still do when I want a treat!

      Delete
  9. Congrats on the feature in AFC FB page. My Quay Lo cookes this dish for dinner one evening for his daughter when we were in the states. He used linquine and deep fried pancetta. It was DELICIOUS. I am sure yours were too.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thanks dear, congrats to you too! Hehe we got featured on the same day :)

      Delete
  10. Replies
    1. Thanks very much ieda! Do try making it and let me know if you like it.

      Delete
  11. Thanks for post, i need to make it tomorrow

    ReplyDelete

Please drop any comments or questions you may have here. Thank you so much for reading!

Related Posts Plugin for WordPress, Blogger...