Oh My! Carbonara!

I made my carbonara tonight. I haven’t made that in forever, and I almost forgot how to do it. But, it turned out just as amazing as it always does, and my hubby stuffed himself, and is currently sitting on my couch moaning about how full he is! I’d say it was a success.

My carbonara is a little different. I don’t use egg in it, and it has mushrooms instead of peas. I made traditional carbonara one time, and decided I preferred this recipe. It’s not just that it’s super-easy to make, but I like the way it tastes better, too!

Ingredients: 
1 – pkg. bacon
1 – pkg. linguine or fettucine noodles
1 – pkg. mushrooms, sliced
1 – pkg. (8 oz.) cream cheese or Neuchâtel cheese, cubed
1 – tbsp. minced garlic
1 3/4 to 2 – cups milk
Salt, pepper, dried parsley, and garlic powder, to taste

Directions:
Start a pot of salted water for your pasta. Heat a large skillet and start frying your bacon. Fry it crispy, because you’ll need to crumble it. When your bacon is done frying, reserve 3 TBSP of the fat in the skillet and discard the rest. By now, your water should have started boiling and your pasta should already be cooking. Toss your mushrooms in the skillet with the bacon grease, and scrape all the cracklings loose from the pan. When your mushrooms are halfway cooked, add in the minced garlic, and finish sautée-ing them. Chop and crumble your bacon while your mushrooms finish. Once your mushrooms are cooked through and completely soft, add in your cream cheese and mash it against the bottom of the skillet. Check your pasta now. It should be getting close to being al dente. Once you’ve mashed and melted your cream cheese, add in your milk, slowly. You’ll have a super-runny soup at this point, but don’t worry, because the cheese will thicken it up as soon as it starts boiling. At this time, you should season your sauce and add your chopped/crumbled bacon. I used roughly a tsp. of garlic powder, salt, and pepper, but you may want more or less. Go by what tastes right, and keep stirring this mixture. Once it’s started boiling and thickened up, add it to your drained pasta.

Easy peasy and delicious!