This is delicious carbonara, fairly quick.
- salt and pepper
- 1/4 lb. fettuccine noodles (i like barilla brand but any old box of pasta will do. fresh pasta is obviously best).
- 1/2 cup chopped bacon
- 1 tsp. olive oil
- 1/4 of a white onion thinly sliced
- 1 clove garlic thinly sliced
- 1/3 cup frozen peas
- 1/4 cup chives finely chopped
- 1 tbs. heavy cream
- 1/8 cup finely grated parmesan cheese
- small handful of finely chopped parsley
- Carbohydrate 6.79860625008899 g
- Cholesterol 21.1893750043696 mg
- Fat 7.63179166604678 g
- Fiber 2.01 g
- Protein 7.29156875006538 g
- Saturated Fat 4.06045000048606 g
- Serving Size 1 1 Recipe (184g)
- Sodium 315.894322917843 mg
- Sugar 4.78860625008899 g
- Trans Fat 0.448777500012112 g
- Calories 124 calories
Step-by-step
- Chop a few strips of bacon into small chunks. By the way, this is the best bacon I've found out there. It's "Wright" bacon, and when you open the pack it smells like smoky goodness. It's very thick and super flavorful. Also, at this point, begin cooking your fettuccine pasta until al dente and set aside (Don't forget to add a generous amount of salt to the water as boiling begins).
- Sautee bacon chunks until fat is rendered and bacon is crisp. After bacon has rendered, take out of the pan with a slotted spoon and empty half of bacon oil.
- While bacon renders take care of all of your veggie chopping and preparation.
- Add Olive Oil, onions, and a pinch of salt to pan, cook for a few minutes until onions are browned. Once onions have browned a bit add garlic and cook until fragrant.
- Add peas, half amount of chives, and pinch of salt to pan. Allow to cook for a minute or two until peas are cooked through.
- Add al dente pasta, heavy cream, remaining chives, and Italian parsley to pan. Allow to cook together for a couple minutes.
- Finish with Parmesan cheese and serve in large bowl. Put a couple of chives on top to make it look extra awesome and gourmet...
Operating on a strict single-serving budget requires minimizing waste across every component, meaning standard pantry staples must pull double duty without unnecessary extravagance. Fettuccine anchors the bowl, though spaghetti or bucatini can substitute at a direct one-to-one ratio with identical boiling times. Heavy cream replaces the traditional emulsified egg-and-cheese mixture found in Roman classics, introducing a stable dairy fat that resists curdling when tossed over residual heat. Rendering the bacon over medium-low heat extracts maximum rendered fat without burning the delicate milk solids, yielding crisp lardons and leaving precisely enough grease in the skillet to sweat the onions. Thinly sliced garlic requires only thirty seconds in the hot pan until aromatic; exceeding that window turns the cloves bitter and overpowers the mild sweetness of frozen peas. Salting the pasta water generously ensures proper seasoning penetrates the interior of the noodle during the ten-minute boiling window rather than relying solely on post-pour seasoning. Pair this rich, pork-heavy dish with a crisp, high-acidity white wine like Pinot Grigio or a bitter green salad dressed simply in lemon juice and olive oil to cut through the heavy cream and salty bacon fat.
