Recipe Recommendation: Pasta Carbonara from Pioneer Woman

Here's the recipe, which is actually from Pioneer Woman's friend, Pastor Ryan:

First of all, let us just say that whether it's Ree (the Pioneer Woman) herself or any of her cohorts doing the talking, we love the style and voice in which these recipes are written. Each step is clearly explained both in the text and through pictures, and there's a dash of good humor that makes us relax and think happy thoughts. If you haven't already discovered this site, prepare to spend many happy hours going through the archives.

As expected, this recipe for pasta carbonara was no exception and the instructions were very easy to follow. The only real change we made was that we discarded most of the bacon grease after rendering the bacon, leaving behind about a tablespoon for cooking the onions and garlic. This is just our personal preference, plus we thought it was fussy to transfer the onions out and back into the pan.

Lest you think we're all that virtuous, we did still add that last lump of butter added at the end. Yum!

The finished dish was just as good as you'd expect. Creamy, a little crunch from the bacon, a good balance of flavors...Like Pastor Ryan, we had trouble holding a conversation until all our plates were clean. We served it with a simple salad of greens and the same wine we used to deglaze the pan, a new favorite sauvignon blanc from Oyster Bay Wines.

We'd actually never made pasta carbonara at home before - we knew it was easy, but it was stuck in our head as "restaurant food." Happily, now we know better. Also, because we usually have all the ingredients on hand, it's a great dish to have in your back pocket when you feel like a spontaneous dinner party!

(Images: Emma Christensen for the Kitchn)

I recently became a carbonara convert. Unfortunately for my hips, there's no looking back now...

posted by meleyna on April 9th 2009 at 11:51am
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Do you think it would be okay to cook the onions and garlic then use a small portion of the renderings and mix that in with the egg parm sauce?

I really hate the crunch of onions, I'm terrified of them but I want the taste.

posted by birdablaze on April 9th 2009 at 11:58am
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This looks delicious.

The only carbonara I've made at home was from the Zuni Cafe cookbook. That recipe uses ricotta and is utter heaven.

posted by heather77 on April 9th 2009 at 12:02pm
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birdablaze, Two things to try if you like the taste of onions but not the crunch. 1 - cook them longer over a medium heat. This will cook them slowly and make them melty instead of crunchy. 2- cut them into smaller pieces. This will also help them cook more quickly and be less crunchy.

Barring those options - yes, you could cook the onions and garlic, and then strain them out. The resulting sauce will have some flavor from the onions and definitely from the garlic.

Good luck!

posted by EmmaC on April 9th 2009 at 12:10pm
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Oh MAN that looks good...

posted by Mike D on April 9th 2009 at 12:40pm
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i am a HUGE carbonara fan, bacon, butter, egg, cheese - nothing wrong with that! the only thing is i rarely order it in restaurants because they insist on putting peas in it. EW! i have yet to outgrow my extreme distaste for peas and can't stand picking around them. its like they multiply. there is always just so many of them! so no carbonara for me. until now. because I can make it at home.

posted by roseslaw on April 9th 2009 at 1:13pm
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Mmm. I had carbonara on Tuesday night, but this recipe sounds a lot better than mine! I used olive oil instead of butter because that's always how my mum made it, but butter would keep it creamier. And I used turkey bacon because that's what I had in the house, so there was no delicious bacon grease!

Keep in mind that carbonara is an excellent dinner to make with your leftover Easter ham!

posted by emmaduck on April 9th 2009 at 1:29pm
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Pioneer Woman is my hero. I love Ree and have NO IDEA how she manages to do all she does. Her site is hilarious, informative, and fun -- I recommend her blog to everyone I know.

posted by mlleErica on April 9th 2009 at 2:35pm
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Yum. Love pasta carbonara (though I make a slightly different version, based on a Ruth Reichl recipe) and love, love, love the Pioneer Woman.

posted by maggie (p/c) on April 9th 2009 at 8:07pm
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