Pasta alla Carbonara with Bacon and Kale
Author: adapted from bojongourmet.com
Recipe type: Dinner
Cuisine: Italian
Ingredients
- For the sauce:
- ¼ cup of heavy cream (or ricotta cheese)*
- 2 large eggs, at room temperature
- ¼ cup grated parmesan
- ¼ teaspoon salt
- ½ teaspoon pepper
For the pasta:
- 1 tablespoon of olive oil
- 3 ounces of bacon, chopped
- 1 small onion
- a pinch of red chili flakes, optional
- ½ bunch of kale leaves, chopped
- 8 ounces of dry pasta
- parsley or chives to garnish
Instructions
- Fill a large pot with water and salt it generously. Place pot over high heat and bring to boil.
- While you are waiting for the water to boil, make the sauce. In a large measuring cup, whisk together the ricotta cheese, eggs, parmesan, salt and pepper until well combined. Set aside.
- Heat the olive oil in a wide skillet over a medium heat.
- Add the bacon and fry it up until crispy.
- Add the chopped onions, chili flakes and saute until the onion is tender, about ten minutes.
- Then add the chopped kale leaves and saute until the leaves are cooked, but still crisp then remove the skillet from heat.
- Cook pasta until it's al dente. Once the pasta is cooked, drain it well and add it to the skillet.
- Immediately pour the egg mixture over the pasta and toss well until the eggs thicken into a sauce from the heat of the other ingredients.
- Serve the pasta immediately and garnish with chopped chives or parsley.
Notes
*The original recipe calls for heavy cream or ricotta cheese for the sauce. This time around, we used ricotta cheese, but in the past we've used heavy cream.
The heat from the pasta and other ingredients should cook the eggs and thicken up the sauce. If you find that your sauce is not thickening, the original recipe said to return the skillet to low heat and stir the pasta until the sauce thickens. Also, to be extra safe, you can stick an instant read thermometer into the pasta and it should read 170F.
The heat from the pasta and other ingredients should cook the eggs and thicken up the sauce. If you find that your sauce is not thickening, the original recipe said to return the skillet to low heat and stir the pasta until the sauce thickens. Also, to be extra safe, you can stick an instant read thermometer into the pasta and it should read 170F.
Recipe by sprinkles and sauce at https://sprinklesandsauce.com/pasta-alla-carbonara-bacon-kale/