Recipe Review: Spaghetti Carbonara

The quest continues for great tasting dinner recipes; of course, with limited time, they have to be easy too. And different, not just a doctored version of the same old ten standby dinner recipes. Luckily, International Masters Publishers has given us an easy to prepare recipe for Spaghetti Carbonara as part of their '1001 Recipes for Skillet or Wok'.

Spaghetti Carbonara Recipe

Spaghetti Carbonara is a ham and pasta dish with a white, parmesan cheese based sauce. Surprisingly easy to prepare, the skillet dish makes lots in only twenty to thirty minutes.

Spaghetti Carbonara
(International Masters Publishers)

Ingredients:
1 lb. spaghetti, cooked to package directions
2 tablespoons butter
6 oz. smoked ham
3 eggs
1 cup heavy cream
2/3 cup grated parmesan cheese
Salt and black pepper
2 tablespoons chopped, fresh parsley

Directions:

Melt butter in large skillet. Dice ham and add to melted butter. Cook five minutes, stirring occasionally, until slightly browned.

Beat eggs and cream together in a bowl. Pour egg and cream mixture into skillet and cook over low heat so as not to scramble the eggs.

Cook and stir constantly until mixture thickens (about five minutes), but does not scramble.

Stir in parmesan cheese. Season with salt and pepper. Pour sauce over pasta in a large bowl and toss to combine. Garnish with parsley.

Serve immediately.

Review

Spaghetti Carbonara is an ideal dinner recipe. It is fast and easy to prepare, and since Spaghetti Carbonara is a pasta dish, it is fairly inexpensive to make but serves many. (The recipe says it serves four; for a dinner party serving several adults, this may be a good rule to follow, but as a family meal with parents and children, this recipe will go further.)

The white parmesan cheese sauce is well liked by even those who are not fans of sauce-topped dishes, and is an especially tasty alternative to acidic tomato based sauces. The sauce blends to coat the spaghetti, clinging to the pasta rather than sitting atop it and sliding off. The result is full, rich flavor in every bite, without being heavy and overpowered with the cream.

Ham combined with the pasta is a welcome variation on traditional spaghetti dishes. Though we all love the tomato sauce and ground beef combination, it has become an over-used, fall back dish for a fast, easy, affordable meal, and the flavor is, for many of us, becoming trite. For an even more affordable meal and easier preparation, purchase thick-sliced smoked deli ham or a precooked picnic ham that can be quickly diced for use in this recipe.

This Spaghetti Carbonara recipe tastes like it takes much longer to prepare than it actually does. Making you look like an Italian gourmet, the short preparation and cooking time required makes this recipe ideal for evening dinner parties when time is short and a nice spread is needed. A simple salad and bread course easily completes the main course with time to spare. Stress free Spaghetti Carbonara gets the cook out of the kitchen and into the dining room with plenty of time to spend enjoying time with guests.

Spaghetti Carbonara is an inexpensive, reliable meal choice that is a welcome addition to any home recipe box or dinner party recipe repertoire. Once you see how delicious and easy this recipe is, you will make it part of your regular revolving dinner options.

Looking for more dinner ideas and great tasting recipes? Read on at AssociatedContent.