I love carbonara sauce and this easy tomato and bacon carbonara is a quick and tasty version that is totally ideal for quick weeknight dinners!
Carbonara sauce is a creamy egg based sauce and can be a little intimidating but hopefully this recipe will help you realize it isn’t too hard if you follow one simple technique.
That technique is tempering your eggs. This is by far the hardest thing about this sauce that intimidates those making it. The eggs can scramble easily so you need to temper them before you add them to the pasta.
To do this, you need to take 2 tablespoons of reserved cooking liquid from your pasta water and slowly whisk it into your egg mixture. This brings the eggs up to temperature and it won’t be such a shock to them when they meet the hot pasta so they won’t curdle. If they do curdle, all is still good, the dish is still delicious and you can try again the next time you make it.
This recipe can also be made using chickpea pasta like I have pictured below for a lower carb version.
How to make easy tomato and bacon carbonara:
serves 6
- 1 pound of pasta – spaghetti or any long noodle are ideal
- 2 tablespoons olive oil
- 4 cloves garlic – crushed
- 1/2 cup bacon crumbles – make sure it’s real bacon, not bacon bits (I buy the big costco bag)
- 1-1/2 cups tomatoes – chopped (I use cherry tomatoes cut in half)
- 1/2 cup Parmesan cheese – plus more for on top
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
- 2 eggs
- 2 tablespoons reserved pasta cooking water
- optional – fresh basil to garnish
Instructions
- Cook pasta according to package directions, save 2 tablespoons of cooking water.
- Drain and set pasta aside, do not rinse pasta.
- In a small bowl, add eggs and whisk together.
- Take 2 tablespoons of hot water that your pasta was cooking in and slowly whisk it into your egg mixture.
- Set egg mixture aside.
- In a large pan, add olive oil and crushed garlic and saute over medium heat for 1 minute.
- Add bacon and stir for 1 minute.
- Next, add tomatoes and stir for another minute.
- Add your pasta to the pan and mix in the bacon, tomatoes and garlic.
- Sprinkle Parmesan cheese and salt over noodles and mix into the noodles.
- Shut heat off and remove from hot burner.
- Add the egg mixture and quickly stir the noodles so they get coated in the egg mixture.
- Top with more Parmesan cheese and serve.
Easy Tomato and Bacon Carbonara
Ingredients
- 1 pound pasta spaghetti or any long noodle are ideal
- 2 tablespoons olive oil
- 4 cloves garlic – crushed
- 1/2 cup bacon crumbles make sure it’s real bacon not bacon bits (I buy the big costco bag)
- 1-1/2 cups tomatoes – chopped I use cherry tomatoes cut in half
- 1/2 cup Parmesan cheese – plus more for on top
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
- 2 eggs
- 2 tablespoons reserved pasta cooking water
Instructions
- Cook pasta according to package directions, save 2 tablespoons of cooking water.
- Drain and set pasta aside, do not rinse pasta.
- In a small bowl, add eggs and whisk together.
- Take 2 tablespoons of hot water that your pasta was cooking in and slowly whisk it into your egg mixture.
- Set egg mixture aside.
- In a large pan, add olive oil and crushed garlic and saute over medium heat for 1 minute.
- Add bacon and stir for 1 minute.
- Add tomatoes and stir for another minute.
- Add your pasta to the pan and mix in the bacon, tomatoes and garlic.
- Add Parmesan cheese and salt and mix it into the noodles.
- Shut heat off and remove pan from hot burner.
- Add the egg mixture and quickly stir the noodles so they get coated in the egg mixture.
- Top with more Parmesan cheese and serve.