Party Food: Easy (iest) Carbonara

Before I start, let me first apologise for the crappy photos that you will encounter.

The digital camera moved out the day my sister did. So there. I'm left with my 1.3 megapixel phone camera.

...

I believe my calling in life was to create the easiest, fastest and never-will-fail recipes.

I'm no gourmet chef and I have since given up on trying to be a Domestic Goddess but I still need to eat, right?

Over the weekend I got invited to a friend's party and groaned inwardly when he told me to bring a dish.

I knew everyone would be bringing a salad or dessert so I thought I'll be nice and do a mains.

This is the easiest and best of all, guranteed to never fail recipe of a carbonara (a cream-based pasta sauce).

If you do fail, then there's something obviously wrong with you... :)

*note that this recipe is measured to feed a troop of starving males. So measure accordingly.

* I detest gardening so all my herbs came from bottles.

What you need:

750g Spiral Pasta
300ml Lite Cream (4 bottles)
300g (or less) Bacon Pieces
Plenty of Mushrooms
2 cloves of Garlic
Chilli Flakes
Parsley
Mixed Herbs
Salt
Ground Pepper

Putting it together:

1. Boil the pasta.

2. While the pasta is boiling, chop up the garlic, mushrooms and bacon (unless you're me and got bacon pieces from the deli).

3. Fry up the mushrooms. When the mushrooms are nearly done (turning a darker colour and softening), throw in as much (or little) chilli flakes as you want and add some mixed herbs. Set aside the mushrooms.

4. Fry up the bacon quickly. Set aside on some paper towels.


5. Clean up your frying pan or wok. The pasta should be done by now so drain the water and place it in a container and allow to cool.


6. Pour in the first 600ml of Lite cream. Allow the cream to heat up for awhile on a moderate fire then add in the equivalent to 1 clove of garlic.


7. Add in half the bacon and half of the mushrooms. Stir for awhile then leave to simmer. Add in ground pepper, salt to taste, parsley and any other spices if you think you need a bit more omph.

8. Leave to simmer until it starts bubbling happily.

9. Once the sauce is happy, remove from heat and pour it into a container.


10. Repeat process with the remaining cream, mushrooms and bacon.

DONE!

* Remember to keep the sauce and pasta separate
*Always, always allow the sauce to simmer then bubble up
* 300 ml of cream is enough sauce for 2 people.

Verdict: It was enough to fill up the hungry males and one male in particular had at least 4 helpings.

Tags: carbonara pasta budget recipe