Do you love Italian Cuisine and flavors? So do we! Pasta, gnocchi, pizza, risotto, prosciutto, spumone, tiramisu… Ohh… I’m dying thinking about that! Yesterday we had some Italian food at home. Chicken Carbonara with a glass of white wine… Oooh totally yum yum!!
If you don’t know it yet, carbonara is one of the most popular Italian pasta dishes. Traditionally, spaghetti alla carbonara is made with cheese, eggs, and pancetta or guanciale, but I decided to make some little changes. I had leftover prosciutto, so I used that up. To make this meal more tasty, I added chicken and I think this is definitely my new favorite pasta dish! It is sooo delicious! I promise you will lick your plates clean!
Love the creamy sauce. It’s similar to the Alfredo, but it incorporates beaten eggs and bacon. You should try this version of carbonara. I’m sure this will become your family’s favorite too! Creamy, rich, yummy, flavorful and easy to make – a perfect meal when you have a craving for special dishes from Italy!
Ingredients
- 2 eggs plus 2 egg yolks
- 1 1/2 cups heavy cream
- 2/3 cup freshly grated Parmesan cheese , plus more for serving
- 1 teaspoon finely grated lemon zest
- 2 tablespoons chopped fresh parsley leaves
- 2 teaspoons plus 1 tablespoon olive oil , divided
- 4 ounces prosciutto , thinly sliced
- 3 garlic cloves , finely chopped
- 1 shallot , diced
- 1 lb (450g) chicken breast , cut into thin strips
- 1/2 lb (225g) dried spaghetti
- 2/3 cup peas , fresh or frozen
- salt and freshly ground black pepper , to taste
Instructions
- In a large bowl, whisk the eggs and egg yolks. Add the heavy cream, Parmesan, lemon zest and parsley, and whisk to blend. Set aside.
- Cook the spaghetti in the salted boiling water until just al dente according to package directions. Drain.
- Heat two teaspoons of olive oil in a heavy large frying pan over medium heat. Add the prosciutto, garlic and shallot, and saute, stirring occasionally, until fat begins to render, about 5 minutes. Remove from the pan and set aside.
- Heat the remaining 1 tablespoon of olive oil in the same pan. Add the chicken, season with salt and pepper, and stir-fry on medium heat until the chicken is cooked through, about 7 minutes. Turn the heat on medium-low. Add prosciutto and stir to combine. Next, add the spaghetti, egg and cream mixture and peas, and toss over medium-low heat until the sauce coats the pasta thickly, about 4-5 minutes (sauce will thicken as it stands). Do not boil! Taste, and season with salt and pepper, as desired.
- Divide the pasta between four bowls and finish each with a sprinkling of Parmesan cheese. Enjoy!
18 Comments
Martina
June 15, 2014 at 10:40 amHello 🙂
First I would like to thank you because I really love your recipes a lot and your website is very inspiring. I am italian and i love cooking, and I found it because a blog on Tumblr I follow shares all of your recipes.
But as an italian I have to say that this hasn’t a lot to do with carbonara, I don’t know why nobody outside of my country knows how this very simple recipe is really, but I never see someone doing it right. It’s just bacon, eggs, salt and pepper, and if you want some Parmesan cheese or pecorino, but that’s it, no cream, no chicken, no peas, no parsley, and don’t use prociutto! This maybe might sound ridiculous, but it’s a very traditional recipe and it’s important. If you want to make a variation it’s okay, but don’t call it carbonara, I think it’s an offense, we italians are very proud of our cuisine.
I don’t wanna insult you or something, but I just wanted to let you know something you don’t seem to know 😉
Jovita
June 15, 2014 at 11:44 amHi, Martina. I know that this recipe is not authentic. I was trying to do my own modification. Even the name says that it’s “chicken carbonara”, not the simple one.
But thanks for letting me know. I would keep that in mind 🙂 .
Alice
November 13, 2014 at 12:52 amThis review was unnecessarily rude. The author even explicitly states that it’s not a traditional recipe and explains why. There was no pretense of this being the “genuine” carbonara recipe.
I like this Americanized version and a lot of restaurants around here use cream as well.
Jovita
November 13, 2014 at 8:06 amThanks for the support, Alice!
EDDIE
June 15, 2017 at 7:35 pmI am Chef Eddie what is authentic food anymore ? Cooking is art create whatever makes you happy in THE usa ITS CALLED “chicken carbonara
chris
July 11, 2015 at 12:16 amThanks Martina, its nice to add some background or history to the things we do and cook today, it helps round out our knowledge and inspire the creation of wonderful flavors in our cooking! I actually substituted all chicken for linguica, and left out the cream from this specific recipe – “Never follow blindly, when the path is yet uncut.” – anon
Fiona
June 20, 2014 at 1:52 pmI loved this version of Carbonara! Made it yesterday and all my family enjoyed it. Thanks for the recipe!
Jovita
June 20, 2014 at 7:17 pmHi, Fiona! Thanks for reporting back and hope you’ll stop by again for more recipes. 🙂
john
June 24, 2014 at 12:01 amgreat recipe, i just cooked and ate it. my wife and i loved it… i used milk instead of cream and i put a few cut up grape tomatoes in it. easy and quick thanks for the recipe…
Jovita
June 24, 2014 at 7:22 amThanks for reporting back, John! So glad you liked this. What a great idea to add some grape tomatoes in it! 🙂
Hailey
July 30, 2014 at 10:12 amI tried it yesterday and I must say that it was super tasty. Definitely one of my favorite pastas right now. Thanks for the recipe!
Jovita
July 30, 2014 at 10:54 amI’m happy to hear that you liked it, Hailey! Thanks for reporting back. 😉
Shane
August 25, 2014 at 11:03 amG’day from down under!
I was wondering what heavy cream is as we don’t seem to have it on shelf.. whipping cream, thickened cream, dollop cream, double cream but no heavy.
It may be helpful to know the fat percentage?
Jovita
August 25, 2014 at 12:25 pmHi, Shane! I used heavy cream which contained 36 percent fat. You can substitute it with whipping cream, which contains more than 30 percent fat. Hope it helps!
Hineaka
July 19, 2016 at 11:10 am2016 and I have made this with my own additions. Hot mild calabrese salami with low fat milk instead of cream and it was fabulous . And … My darlin loved it ?? Thank You Jovita
Jovita
August 7, 2016 at 8:49 amI am so glad to hear it, Hineaka! Thanks for reporting back! 🙂
Jeffrey
January 4, 2021 at 3:02 amEveryone loved it. I made the chicken Carbonara and also made it with shrimp. I will definitely be making this again. Thanks for the recipe.
Jovita
January 5, 2021 at 9:55 amShirmp sound like a great idea. So happy you enjoyed the recipe!