• Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar

My Recipe Reviews

Recipe Reviews, Recommendations, Tips and Musings. Thanks for visiting!

  • Home
  • Recipe Index
    • All Recipes
    • Appetizers
    • Bars
    • Beef
    • Breads/Muffins
    • Breakfast
    • Cakes
    • Candy
    • Casseroles
    • Chicken/Poultry
    • Cookies
    • Cooking for Two
    • Fruit
    • Holiday Recipes
    • Ice Cream/Sorbets
    • Lighter Recipes
    • Pasta
    • Pies/Pastry/Puddings
    • Pork
    • Seafood
    • Snacks
    • Soups, Stews, and Salads
    • Throw and Go! (Crockpot Recipes)
    • Vegetables/Side Dishes
  • Recipes Without Pictures
  • What’s Hot/What’s Not
  • About Me
  • Privacy Policy/Contact

lemony pasta carbonara

Lemony Carbonara Pasta (Cooking for Two)

January 27, 2018 by sblades Leave a Comment

It’s still citrus season and this Lemony Carbonara Pasta from Ted Cavanaugh at Bon Appetit uses lemon juice and zest very nicely.

It’s a fairly easy recipe that’s quick to throw together as along as you have all of your ingredients prepped. It also uses up a couple of egg yolks that I had leftover from the Peanut Butter Pretzel Cake last week!

The result is a tasty, basic pasta dish that doesn’t have a bunch of weird ingredients. I halved the original recipe and used bacon instead of guanciale (salt-cured pork jowl). Darn, I ran out of pork jowl a couple of days ago.

The hot pasta will cook the yolks without scrambling them and creates a creamy, light sauce that goes very well over your pasta of choice.

Pair Lemony Carbonara Pasta with some nice garlic bread and maybe a little salad and you’ve got a great dinner in front of you!

Lemony Carbonara Pasta (Cooking for Two)

Lemony Carbonara Pasta (Cooking for Two)

Yield: 2
Prep Time: 10 minutes
Cook Time: 30 minutes
Total Time: 40 minutes

Very good, hearty pasta dish that's easy on the ingredients.  Pair with some fresh garlic bread.

Ingredients

  • 2 tsp olive oil
  • 3 oz sliced bacon, cut crosswise into 1/2" pieces, (2-3 slices)
  • 2 tbsp onion, diced
  • 2 garlic cloves, diced
  • 1/2 tsp freshly ground black pepper
  • 6 oz spaghetti, or your favorite pasta
  • 1 oz Parmesan cheese, freshly grated, plus a little more for the final dish
  • 2 large egg yolks, stirred lightly with a fork
  • 1/2 tsp finely grated lemon zest
  • 1 tbsp fresh lemon juice

Instructions

  1. Boil a large pot of salted water and add pasta.  Cook and stir occasionally until al dente, about 8 minutes.  Drain and reserve 3/4 cup of the pasta water.
  2. While pasta is cooking, heat oil in a large skillet over medium heat.  Cook the bacon pieces, stirring often, until browned and slightly crisp, 3-4 minutes.  Add the onion and garlic and stir occasionally until softened, about 3 minutes.  Add the pepper and stir until fragrant, about 30 seconds.   Turn heat to low.
  3. Add the drained pasta to the pan with the bacon mixture along with 1/4 cup of the pasta water and 1/2 of the Parmesan cheese.  Toss to coat. 
  4. Remove the skillet from the heat and add the egg yolks, stirring while adding them.  Toss again and add remaining pasta water if needed.  The sauce should be smooth and glossy. 
  5. Add the grated lemon zest, lemon juice and the other 1/2 of the Parmesan.  Toss to coat, taste,  and season with salt if needed.
  6. Divide the pasta among the bowls and add more grated Parmesan if desired.

Notes

Tips and Stuff:

The original recipe called for shallots, so if you have them feel free to use them.

Be sure and use most of the pasta water to thin the sauce - it will thicken upon sitting for a minute and you need the water so it won't thicken and be gluey.

Next time I'll probably use a little less lemon juice, but hey, it's called Lemony Carbonara Pasta, so it's up to you.

Nutrition Information:
Yield: 2 Serving Size: 1 serving
Amount Per Serving: Calories: 638Total Fat: 32gSaturated Fat: 10gTrans Fat: 0gUnsaturated Fat: 19gCholesterol: 333mgSodium: 1053mgCarbohydrates: 52gFiber: 3gSugar: 2gProtein: 35g

Nutrition Values are Approximate

© Ted Cavanaugh, Bon Appetit
Category: Cooking for Two

Filed Under: All Recipes, Cooking for Two, Pasta Tagged With: bacon, dinner, egg yolks, lemony pasta carbonara, pasta, pasta carbonara

Primary Sidebar

Follow Me!

  • Email
  • Facebook
  • Instagram
  • Pinterest
  • StumbleUpon

Welcome!  I’m Susan and I love finding wonderful new recipes.  I hope you’ll find a few new ones here that you and your family will love. Browse around and stay a while!Save

Save

Can’t Find What You’re Looking for?

Most Popular Posts

  • Soft Cinnamon Roll Cookies
  • Blueberry Lemon Ricotta Tea Cake Blueberry Lemon Ricotta Tea Cake (The Cake Slice Bakers)
  • Creamy Great Northern Beans with Ham
  • Light Chicken Parmesan Crock-Pot Chicken Parmesan (A Lighter Version of the Classic)
  • Hamburger Cauliflower Soup Hearty Hamburger Cauliflower Soup
Get new recipes by email:
Powered by follow.it
my foodgawker gallery
Copyright © 2022 · Design by Deluxe Designs