My Best Spaghetti alla Carbonara

This is the tastiest carbonara recipe ever, even if I do say so myself! I first attempted it in my second year at uni and it became a staple meal for the rest of my time there. The traditional Italian recipe is simply a combination of pasta, eggs, cheese, bacon and black pepper, which whilst nice, is a little bit boring if you ask me. I like to add onion, chestnut mushrooms and a good dousing of double cream to mine to give this simple dish a taste of luxury! As you may start to realise, most of my recipes are laden with garlic or chorizo (generally both) and for this recipe it is the garlic that makes the difference! You can actually use chorizo in place of the bacon for a colourful and spicy twist, but I like to use oak-smoked back bacon to give the dish a distinctive smoky flavour.

Feeds 4

Ingredients:

200g pasta (I use spaghetti, but you can use whatever variety you like)
125g oak-smoked back bacon, finely diced
50g chestnut mushrooms, sliced
1 sml onion, finely diced
3 cloves of garlic, crushed
2 large eggs
100ml double cream
50g cheese (I used cheddar but you can use parmesan for a more authentic Italian taste if you prefer)
1 tbsp olive oil
salt & pepper
flat-leaf parsley

Recipe:

Heat the oil in a large saucepan/casserole over a low heat, fry the onion for 5 mins or until softened but not browned. Add the garlic and fry for a further minute.

Add the pasta to a saucepan of salted boiling water and boil for 9 mins until al dente. Whilst the pasta is cooking, add the bacon pieces to the fried onions and garlic and increase the heat. Fry for another 5 mins before adding the sliced mushrooms and some freshly-ground black pepper.

When cooked, drain off the pasta, add to the saucepan and mix everything together thoroughly.

Turn off the hob, whisk together the eggs, cheese and cream and stir into the pasta using the residual heat to cook the eggs. Stir in a tbsp of chopped parsley, plenty of freshly ground black pepper and a pinch of salt to taste.

Garnish with flat-leaf parsley and serve immediately. Enjoy!