It was another lovely day yesterday here in Utah, the warmest day so far this year. I’m so excited to be outside more and start digging in the dirt. And grilling! Love to start grilling this time of year. However, you cannot grill pasta and that’s what I cooked up. Some delicious pasta carbonara. I had not attempted this one before so it was my latest “adventure in the kitchen.”
Carbonara sauce is usually made from eggs, cheese, bacon and black pepper. I only found a few recipes out there that included ham. There is argument that traditional carbonara did not include onions, but I put it in mine since I think onions add a lot of flavor. I also found a lot of recipes that REFUSE to add peas to the dish. I like peas. They’re good and they add a nice green color to the pasta. There are so many variations of this recipe online your brain can explode. I think it all comes down to personal taste and this is my take on carbonara.
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Pasta Carbonara with Ham
Print recipe
| Serves | 4 |
| Prep time | 10 minutes |
| Cook time | 15 minutes |
| Total time | 25 minutes |
| Allergy | Egg, Milk |
| Meal type | Main Dish |
| Misc | Serve Hot |
Ingredients
- 4 Strips bacon (chopped)
- 1/2 Medium yellow onion (diced)
- 2 cloves garlic (chopped)
- 1/2 Kirkland Ham Steak (cut into cubes)
- 3 Large eggs (beaten)
- 1/4 cup 1% milk
- 1/4 cup parmesan cheese
- 1 teaspoon black pepper
- 8oz pasta of choice
- 1/2 can peas (drained (optional))
- fresh basil for garnish
Directions
| Step 1 | |
|
In a medium skillet, cook the bacon until crisp. Set aside on a paper towel to drain grease.  | |
| Step 2 | |
|
Remove any excess grease from the bacon pan. Add onion to this pan and cook until translucent. Add garlic and ham. Cook on medium while everything else is being prepared  | |
| Step 3 | |
| In a small bowl, add the eggs, milk and parmesan. Mix well and set aside | |
| Step 4 | |
| Cook pasta according to package directions. Drain water and put back in the same pot. Pasta should be hot. Slowly stir in the egg mix, stirring constantly until pasta is coated. The eggs should be creamy and not curdle. It should have a creamy consistency. | |
| Step 5 | |
| Garnish with the bacon and basil and serve | |
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For nutrition information and points, click the magic button
Pasta carbonara is supposed to be smooth and creamy but I had a few clumps of parmesan in my sauce that didn’t blend in as well. I also had some areas where the egg “set.” However, it didn’t harm the taste of the pasta. For my pasta I used Orrecchiette, which means “little ears” in Italian. Traditionally, spaghetti noodles are used in this dish but I didn’t have any in the pantry so I picked a nice fun shape for my carbonara.
Adding the ham and cooking it with the onions also gave it some flavor. I use the Kirkland’s ham steak that Costco carries. I find it to have a meatier texture and isn’t so full of water like some are. Plus, they are thicker which made my ham cubes perfectly shaped.
This was very good and I think I know how to make sure I don’t get cheese and egg lumps next time but if you have a suggestion for me, I’m all ears.
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Jess says
March 31, 2014 at 12:48 pmI’ve always wanted to try this! Maybe I’ll use this recipe! 🙂
Again, thanks for joining the Link Up this week!
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Cheryl says
April 2, 2014 at 10:32 pmI’ve never made carbonara with ham, onions, peas or orrecchiette! I think it’s awesome to think outside the box and make dishes exactly as you like them. The only thing do with my carbonara to make sure that the eggs are not clumpy is as the pasta is cooking I scoop out some of the pasta water and let it cool a bit. Instead of adding milk to my eggs, I add some of the warm water and beat them. Then I add water that is a little bit warmer than the first time, and repeat until the eggs are the consistency I would have wanted if I had added milk, and are nice and warm. I don’t add the parmesan until after I have added the pasta and eggs to the dish, if it’s finely grated it melts nicely into the hot pasta.
I’m stopping by from The Wednesday Roundup to check out your yummy, creative recipe. I would love it if you would share this recipe and any others you like in my very first week of The Yuck Stops Here link party. https://mommasangelbaby.com/the-yuck-stops-here-1/ It’ll be open until this Friday at 8pm EST. If you can’t stop by this week we’ll be having a party every week starting on Monday evenings at 8pm EST and going until Fridays at 8pm EST. HUGS
Lori Hart says
April 3, 2014 at 8:45 amThanks for the tips. I greatly appreciate it and will incorporate it next time. I’m heading over to your “Yuck Stops Here” link-up and will add it to my weekly links I do. I see you have a button so I’ll also add it to my party page. Thanks again for stopping by and I look forward to following your blog!
Erlene says
April 4, 2014 at 10:18 amHi Lori, coming over from Fantastic Friday link up. Started following you on Twitter, G+, & Bloglovin.
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Lori Hart says
April 4, 2014 at 10:41 amFollowing you right back. Have a great weekend.