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    Home » Recipes

    Tagliatelle Carbonara (No Cream)

    Published: Sep 8, 2020 · Modified: Feb 3, 2022 by REALMEALDEAL ·

    A Tagliatelle Carbonara without cream is easy to make and ready in just 15 minutes. The cheese and eggs on their own still give a nice creamy texture without being heavy. I find that using tagliatelle rather than the traditional spaghetti means the pasta doesn't stick together quite as much. A carbonara is made with bacon or pancetta but is also a great way to use up any leftover gammon or ham. If you're looking for an alternative to bacon, you might like my Smoked Salmon Carbonara.

    tagliatelle carbonara in bowl topped with parmesan and fresh parsley
    Jump to Recipe Print Recipe
    Jump to:
    • More Easy Pasta Recipes
    • Common Questions
    • Carbonara Ingredients
    • Tips and Variations
    • Serving Suggestion
    • How to make it
    • Sustainability
    • Storage
    • Recipe Video
    • 📖 Recipe

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    Common Questions

    What is a Carbonara?

    A carbonara is an Italian pasta dish that originates from Rome. Traditionally, it is made with eggs, a hard italian cheese such as pecorino, parmesan or grano padano. These ingredients make up the sauce, which you then mix with ham or bacon. The word Carbonara might come from the Italian word for 'charcoal burner', which is carbonaro. Some believe the dish was first made as a hearty meal for Italian charcoal workers.

    Are the eggs raw in a carbonara?

    The egg mixture is added raw to the pasta and the heat of the pasta cooks the eggs. The first time you cook this recipe, it may seem strange, but trust me, this is how the Italians have been making it for centuries. You will know when the eggs are cooked because you will see the texture change.

    What Pasta is used in carbonara?

    The most common pasta to use in a carbonara is spaghetti. However, I find tagliatelle works really well and doesn't clump together as much as spaghetti. You could also use linguine, which is not quite as wide as tagliatelle. All of these types of pasta are long ribbons which you need for a carbonara rather than smaller pasta shapes.

    Carbonara Ingredients

    ingredients for a tagliatelle carbonara sauce with no cream

    Pasta. You can use any long ribbon like pasta in a carbonara.

    Eggs. Any size eggs will do. I would always recommend using free range or organic eggs if you can.

    Cheese. To make a carbonara, you need a hard italian cheese such as parmesan, pecorino or grano padano. Pecorino is whiter in colour than parmesan and also slightly softer. Parmesan is harder, drier and has a slightly more nutty flavour. Grano padano is not matured for as long as parmesan and again is slightly softer than parmesan. It's also usually a bit cheaper and often used in cooking.

    Bacon I make this dish with unsmoked bacon. You can use back bacon or streaky, which is more fatty. You can also use pancetta which is often sold cubed or lardons. This recipe is also great for using up any leftover ham or gammon.

    Butter I always used unsalted butter to keep the salt levels down as there is lots of salt in the bacon and the cheese. It will still work well with salted butter, but don't use oils.

    tagliatelle carbonara in bowl topped with parmesan and fresh parsley

    Tips and Variations

    The creaminess in this carbonara sauce comes from the egg and cheese so it doesn't need any cream adding to it. Some recipes use cream but a traditional Italian Carbonara just uses eggs and milk.

    Adding the eggs and cheese. The biggest mistake people make is too much heat. Even though it might seem odd, before you add the egg and cheese mixture, you need to remove the pan from the heat. The heat that is already in the pasta will cook the eggs. We are aiming for a silky smooth sauce. A few splashes of the pasta water will help loosen the sauce and create that silky texture. This is because the pasta water contains startch from the pasta.

    Variations. Instead of bacon, or ham, you can also make a carbonara with chicken. Make sure the chicken is properly cooked before adding in the pasta.

    Extra Vegetables In order to make this dish go further, you can add peas or mushrooms. Fry the mushrooms up with the bacon and add the peas to the pasta water for the last few minutes to defrost and cook.

    Serving Suggestion

    I like to serve this tagliatelle carbonara with a side of broccoli to add extra colour and nutrition. You could also serve it with a green salad or other green vegetables such as green beans.

    How to make it

    step photos 1 - 2.
    Step1 egg mixture. Step 2 fry garlic.
    • Put a large pan of lightly salted water on to boil. Beat the eggs together in a bowl, season with freshly ground black pepper and stir in most of the cheese. Put the tagliatelle into the pan and cook as per the packet instructions. Steam the broccoli over the top for the last 4 -5 minutes if you're serving it with broccoli.
    • Melt the butter in a large frying pan. Using the back of a knife, press down on the garlic bulbs. This helps the flavour to be released. Add to the frying pan.

    step photos 3 - 4.
    Step 3 fry bacon. Step 4 add pasta.
    • Add the bacon or pancetta or leftover gammon and fry the meat, stirring often until it it crispy. The leftover gammon won't crisp up in the same way as the bacon, just fry it for 2 minutes to heat through. Remove the garlic cloves with a slotted spoon and discard. The garlic flavour will be left.
    • Keep the heat on low and when the tagliatelle is cooked, scoop out a small cup of pasta water and put to one side. Drain the rest and empty the pasta into the frying pan with the meat. Toss it all together and make sure the pasta is well coated in the butter. This is important to make the eggs and cheese stick to the pasta.
    step photos 5 - 6.
    Step 5 toss egg mixture. Step 6 add pasta water to make creamy sauce.
    • The crucial moment. You need a couple of minutes undisturbed. Take the frying pan off the heat and quickly pour in the eggs and cheese. Toss it furiously together and once it begins to thicken, add a splash of the pasta water to loosen it. Add more water until you get the desired consistency.
    • Toss it again and serve immediately with the remainder of the cheese sprinkled on top and some more freshly ground black pepper. Serve with the broccoli or other green vegetables or salad.
    tagliatelle carbonara in bowl topped with parmesan

    Sustainability

    Tagliatelle Carbonara is a great dish for using up any leftover gammon or ham you might have from a Roast Gammon. I've suggested using broccoli to go with it, but use anything green and in season. If you can, try to buy your vegetables loose and from a local source. All the ingredients are available as organic. Black peppercorns are available as Fairtrade and will last you ages. Buying Fairtrade can make a massive difference to some of the world's poorest farmers

    Storage

    Carbonara can be stored in the fridge for 2-3 days. Because it already has the egg and cheese mixed in, it's best only re-heated in a microwave. Personally, I like it cold and it makes a great lunch the next day. It doesn't freeze well because of the eggs which take on a rubbery texture when frozen.

    Recipe Video

    📖 Recipe

    tagliatelle carbonara in bowl topped with parmesan and fresh parsley

    Tagliatelle Carbonara No Cream

    REALMEALDEAL
    A homemade tagliatelle carbonara ready in just 15 minutes is wonderfully different to the shop bought sauces and cheaper too! Some people use eggs and cream, others eggs and butter and some just eggs. I've opted for the middle one of eggs and butter as it's not as rich as the cream version but still tastes great.
    4.87 from 15 votes
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    Prep Time 5 mins
    Cook Time 10 mins
    Total Time 15 mins
    Course Main Course
    Cuisine Italian
    Servings (Adjustable) 4
    Calories 652 kcal

    Ingredients
     
     

    • 3 eggs organic or freerange
    • 1 dash black pepper organic, fairtrade, freshly ground
    • 100 g Parmesan cheese organic, grated or pecorino or grano padano
    • 350 g tagliatelle organic, or other ribbon pasta
    • 50 g butter organic, preferably unsalted
    • 2 cloves garlic organic, peeled and left whole
    • 200 g unsmoked bacon or leftover gammon, cut into small pieces
    • 500 g broccoli organic, cut into even sized florets

    Instructions
     

    • Put a large pan of lightly salted water on to boil. Beat the eggs together in a bowl, season with freshly ground black pepper and stir in most of the cheese.
      3 eggs, 1 dash black pepper, 100 g Parmesan cheese
    • Put the tagliatelle into the pan and cook as per the packet instructions. Steam the broccoli over the top for the last 4 -5 minutes.
      350 g tagliatelle, 500 g broccoli
    • Melt the butter in a large frying pan. Using the back of a knife, press down on the garlic bulbs. This helps the flavour to be released. Add to the frying pan along with the bacon or pancetta or leftover gammon and fry the meat, stirring often until it it crispy. The leftover gammon won't crisp up in the same way as the bacon, just fry it for 2 minutes to heat through. Remove the garlic cloves with a slotted spoon and discard. The garlic flavour will be left.
      50 g butter, 2 cloves garlic, 200 g unsmoked bacon
    • Keep the heat on low and when the tagliatelle is cooked, scoop out a small cup of pasta water and put to one side then drain the rest and empty the pasta into the frying pan with the meat. Toss it all together and make sure the pasta is well coated in the butter.
    • The crucial moment. You need a couple of minutes undisturbed. Take the frying pan off the heat and quickly pour in the eggs and cheese. Toss it furiously together and once it begins to thicken, add a splash of the pasta water to loosen it, add more water until you get the desired creamy consistency.
    • Toss it again and serve immediately with the remainder of the cheese sprinkled on top and some more freshly ground black pepper. Serve with the broccoli or other reen vegetables or salad

    Notes

    Tagliatelle Carbonara is a great dish for using up any leftover gammon or ham you might have from a Roast Gammon. 

    Tips and Variations

    Adding the eggs and cheese. The biggest mistake people make is too much heat. Even though it might seem odd, before you add the egg and cheese mixture, you need to remove the pan from the heat. The heat that is already in the pasta will cook the eggs. We are aiming for a silky smooth sauce. A few splashes of the pasta water will help loosen the sauce and create that silky texture. This is because the pasta water contains startch from the pasta.
    Variations. Instead of bacon, or ham, you can also make a carbonara with chicken. Make sure the chicken is properly cooked before adding in the pasta.
    Extra Vegetables In order to make this dish go further, you can add peas or mushrooms. Fry the mushrooms up with the bacon and add the peas to the pasta water for the last few minutes to defrost and cook.

    Serving Suggestion

    I like to serve this tagliatelle carbonara with a side of broccoli to add extra colour and nutrition. You could also serve it with a green salad or other green vegetables such as green beans.

    Storing Carbonara

    Carbonara can be stored in the fridge for 2-3 days. You can re-heat it but because it already has the egg and cheese mixed in, it's best only re-heated in a microwave. It doesn't freeze well due to the eggs.

    Nutrition per serving

    Calories: 652kcalCarbohydrates: 65gProtein: 36gFat: 27gSaturated Fat: 14gPolyunsaturated Fat: 3gMonounsaturated Fat: 8gTrans Fat: 1gCholesterol: 265mgSodium: 1007mgPotassium: 463mgFiber: 3gSugar: 2gVitamin A: 740IUVitamin C: 1mgCalcium: 355mgIron: 3mg

    The Nutritional Values are computer generated estimates based on industry standards and are provided as a helpful guide only.

    Average Carbon Emissions

    Author REALMEALDEAL
    Tried this recipe?Mention @realmealdealuk or tag #realmealdeal!

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    Reader Interactions

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    1. Toni

      June 29, 2022 at 3:05 pm

      This is so good and amazing!! Such a huge hit with my family! Thank you so much for sharing the recipe!

      Reply
    2. Mari

      June 29, 2022 at 2:48 pm

      I am married to a Roman guy and carbonara is definitely his favorite pasta. Sometimes I like to tweak it adding zucchini, mushrooms, and in summer zucchini blossoms are perfect to add. Hope you give it a try one day 🙂

      Reply
      • REALMEALDEAL

        June 29, 2022 at 7:56 pm

        Hi that sounds lovely. I do like to add in extra veg sometimes to avoid anything going to waste. The zucchini blossoms sound amazing!

        Reply
    3. Dannii

      June 29, 2022 at 2:14 pm

      I love carbonara and this looks like an amazing no cream option.

      Reply
    4. Shadi

      June 29, 2022 at 2:01 pm

      It looks so delicious and easy!This is such an easy and delicious recipe, I cannot wait to make it again!

      Reply
    5. Sue

      June 29, 2022 at 1:54 pm

      Omg I could slurp that whole pan down!

      Reply
    6. Brenda

      December 14, 2020 at 3:58 pm

      Thanks for this . Never thought of using ham this way. It's a great use for the leftovers.

      Reply

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