Recipe: Everything Bagel Spaghetti Carbonara
Pasta carbonara is one of those dishes that leaves you in awe when you find out it’s made out of only four key ingredients: pasta, bacon, eggs, and cheese. It’s creamy and comforting and all the things you look forward to on pasta night. But there’s no reason we can’t have a little bit of flavor fun with the formula — especially if it just means adding one more easy ingredient. Shall we?
A good carbonara has perfect al dente noodles coated in a rich sauce made of eggs and cheese, peppered with bites of salty bacon. What it could use, though, is a little extra texture. Tossing some of The Spice Hunter’s Everything Bagel Crunch into the mix means that things get more interesting with the toasty flavors and crunch of sesame seeds, poppy seeds, and onion. Plus, it’s salt-free — which is great, given that you already get a good briny flavor from the cheese and the bacon in carbonara.
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Keep That Cooking Liquid!
The key to any luscious pasta sauce lies in keeping some of the pasta cooking water to toss in at the end — the starchy water helps the sauce stick to the pasta. In this carbonara, it’s also used to prevent the cooked noodles from sticking to each other and to loosen the egg and cheese sauce. Keep a ladle or heatproof measuring cup next to the stove to remind you to save some of the starchy cooking water so that it all doesn’t go down the drain!
The short ingredient list of pantry staples makes carbonara a good pasta recipe to keep in your back pocket when you don’t want to run out to the grocery store, and with some of The Spice Hunter’s Everything Bagel Crunch in the spice drawer, you can take your carbonara up to the next level.
Everything Bagel Spaghetti Carbonara
Prep time 10 minutes
Cook time 8 minutes
Serves 4
Nutritional Info
Ingredients
- 4
large eggs
- 1 1/2 cups
finely grated Pecorino Romano cheese (2 ounces), plus more for serving
- 2 tablespoons
The Spice Hunter Everything Bagel Crunch, plus more for serving
- 3/4 teaspoon
kosher salt
- 12 ounces
dry spaghetti
- 4 ounces
sliced bacon, cut crosswise into 1/2-inch pieces
Instructions
Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil. Meanwhile, place the eggs, cheese, The Spice Hunter Everything Bagel Crunch, and salt in a medium bowl and whisk to combine; set aside.
Add the spaghetti to the water and cook until al dente, about 10 minutes or according to package instructions. Meanwhile, place the bacon in a large pot or Dutch oven over medium heat and cook until crisp and the fat is rendered, about 8 minutes. Remove from the heat. Use a slotted spoon to transfer the bacon to a paper towel-lined plate; set aside. Do not wash the pot.
When the pasta is ready, reserve 2 cups of the pasta water. Drain the pasta and add to the pot with the bacon grease. Add 1/2 cup of the pasta water and toss thoroughly to coat the pasta.
While whisking the egg mixture, slowly pour in 1/2 cup of the pasta water in to temper the eggs. While tossing the pasta constantly, slowly pour in the egg mixture. The sauce should be glossy and coat the spaghetti strands. If the sauce is too thick, add more pasta water a tablespoon at a time to thin to desired consistency -- you may not use all the pasta water.
Transfer pasta to bowls, sprinkle with the reserved bacon, more cheese, and more The Spice Hunter Everything Bagel Crunch. Serve immediately.
Recipe Notes
Storage: You can refrigerate leftovers in an airtight container for up to 1 day. Stir in more reserved pasta water or broth to loosen the sauce.
This post was created by the Kitchn Creative Studio and is sponsored by The Spice Hunter.
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