Fettucine carbonara with extra parmesan cheese

Serves:

Ingredients

• 1 tablespoon olive oil
• 2 cloves garlic
• 8 thin slices prosciutto or bacon
• 2 eggs
• 60g parmesan, finely grated
• freshly ground black pepper
• 2 tablespoons chopped parsley
• 375g fettuccine (I like to get egg-based pasta)
• extra grated parmesan to serve

Method

Heat oil in a large non-stick frypan.

Add prosciutto slices and cook 2-3 minutes each side until golden and crisp.

Remove the prosciutto and drain on paper towel.

Add garlic to frypan and cook for 2 minutes until just starting to colour, remove pan from heat.

Break the eggs into a large serving bowl and lightly whisk.

Stir in the parmesan, a generous amount of pepper and parsley.

Break the prosciutto up into small pieces and return to frypan (off the heat).

Bring a large pot of water to the boil and cook pasta according to packet directions.

When pasta is almost cooked, reheat the prosciutto/garlic/oil mixture in the frypan.

When pasta is al dente, drain well and transfer to the large serving bowl.

Quickly toss the pasta in the egg mixture to coat each strand (this is important so you don’t end up with bits of egg), the heat of the pasta cooks the egg and melts the cheese to give you a lovely creamy sauce.

Then add in the prosciutto mixture and stir well.

Serve immediately with extra parmesan.

Notes:

• There is nothing worse than cold carbonara – so get everyone to be sitting at the table before you start draining the pasta.
• I also used to make homemade fettuccine, which makes this dish even better.
• Alas, a gluten-free diet, small children and part-time work are not conducive to pasta making.
• If you have the time and equipment – homemade egg pasta is definitely worth the effort.
• Recipe created by Melissa Hughes for Kidspot.

Serving Suggestions

Note