Recipe: Baked Carbonara

There are many people who love a good Spaghetti Carbonara, myself included. But it is a very tricky dish to do well. Most carbonaras utilize raw egg, meaning that the egg needs to be tempered (i.e. heated slowly with another liquid) so it doesn't scramble when added to the hot pan. It's tricky and definitely takes a few tries to master.
I do a mean carbonara, but sometimes, I just don't feel like exerting all that effort, so I came up with a carbonara bake. It's made similarly to the pasta pie that my grandmother made but his one utilizes all of the same ingredients as a delicious carbonara, but you don't have to worry about tempering the egg. And for anyone preoccupied about raw eggs and the possibility of salmonella, this is a great alternative. The egg in this carbonara is cooked all the way through.


 Ingredients

4 or 5 strips of thick back, sliced
1/2 package of frozen peas
1 lb of pasta (I used penne this time, but anything will work)

1/2 cup heavy cream
1 egg or 2 egg yolks
1/2 cup mozzarella cheese, shredded (or provolone works as well)
Salt (for the pasta water)
Pepper to taste
Red pepper flakes to taste
1/2 tsp garlic powder
1 dash onion powder
1 tsp dry basil
Non stick spray for the glass pan

Prepare your pasta as you usually do with a small amount of salt to the point of al dente and put to the side to cool in the pot. If desired, toss with a tsp of olive oil to prevent sticking. Preheat the oven to 350°F.

In a large sautee pan or wok, slowly cook the bacon over a low flame until it begins to crisp up. Then add the peas still frozen. When the peas have begun to defrost, add the pepper and heavy cream and bring to a simmer. Turn off the heat.
In a small bowl, whisk the egg(s) and additional spices. Add red pepper flakes to taste. I love my food rather spicy, so I pour in quite a bit.
Pour the bacon and peas into the pasta pot. Stir in 3/4 of the cheese. Once the cheese has melted, slowly add in the egg mixture and well coat the pasta.

Spray a glass pan with non stick spray. Pour in the pasta and coat with the remaining cheese. Hint: the more cheese you add on top, the more moist the pasta will remain underneath.
Bake at 350° for 20 to 25 minutes or until the cheese is fully melted and the edges have begun to brown.

The finished product after baking for about 20 minutes. 

This recipe serves between 4 and 6 people depending on how large your servings are and whether you use this as a side or a main course. It's a great stand-alone or you can serve it with a light protein. 

I really do enjoy this dish. It's simple to make and you can easily adapt the recipe. You can change the vegetable, skip the bacon, replace it with sausage or with canadian bacon. You can even change the amount of pasta to cook for fewer people. It's an easy bake that generally gets gobbled up. And if you have leftovers, this is great the next day, either reheated in the microwave or in the oven.  

Hope you enjoy. 

-Raspberry Truffle