Spaghetti Carbonara With Creme Fraiche

A few weeks back, I had the most amazing spaghetti carbonara with bacon and mushroom at my local joint called Primo’s Cafe. I was basically in heaven. Everything was perfection. It was so good that when I woke up the next day, my tummy felt wonderful. If my memory serves me right, this must be my second ever carbonara. I’m usually not a fan of gooey thick sauce in pasta. I guess I became a ‘little’ fan of carbonara that day. My perfect carbonara must be served warm. Cold carbonara just turns me off.

I planned on making my own carbonara and since I have creme fraiche leftover from making pea & leek soup, I decided to make spaghetti carbonara with creme fraiche. Please note, adding creme fraiche is not a true Italian recipe (tsk but I’ll still put this recipe in the Italian category). Still, I was eager to try and see how it taste like. If you ever have creme fraiche leftover and not sure what to do with it, try this spaghetti carbonara recipe. 🙂

Spaghetti carbonara with creme fraiche – easy and tasty!

Let’s cook!

Ingredients (clockwise from bottom left): creme fraiche, egg, smoked bacon, chopped garlic and chopped mushroom.

First, cook the pasta in salted boiling water until al dente.

While waiting for the pasta to cook, saute garlic until fragrance in a non-stick pan. Then add bacon and cook for about 2 minutes. Add mushroom and stir-fry until cooked.

Once pasta is ready, drain from the water (do reserve some pasta water) and add into the non-stick pan. Mix well with bacon, mushroom and garlic. Turn off the heat.

Now, beat an egg in a large bowl (enough to fill the spaghetti later), then add creme fraiche.

Combine well.

Very quickly, transfer everything from your non-stick pan to the large bowl of sauce you’ve just made. Let everything mix with the sauce. The heat from the spaghetti will cook the egg but do mix them quickly to prevent the egg from scrambling.

Lastly, add Parmesan cheese and black pepper. Mix well, add some more grated Parmesan if you prefer and serve immediately when it’s warm. If the sauce is too thick, you can thin it by adding some pasta water. That’s it.

My love! Can’t believe it taste just as good using creme fraiche. My next project will be making the authentic carbonara.

If you have tried this recipe, let me know whether you like it.

Spaghetti Carbonara With Creme Fraiche
Serves 1

125g spaghetti
2 pieces streaky smoked bacon, cut into bite size
2 Eryngii (king oyster) mushroom, cut into bite size (feel free to use your own favorite)
2 garlic cloves, chopped
1/4 cup creme fraiche
1/4 cup freshly grated Parmesan cheese
1 egg, beaten in a large bowl
freshly grounded black pepper

Method:
1. Bring a pot of salted water to a boil and cook your pasta following the package instruction until al dente.

2. Meanwhile, saute garlic until fragrance in a non-stick pan. Then add bacon and cook for 2 minutes. Add mushrooms and stir-fry until fully cooked.

3. Drain pasta from the water once it’s ready and add to the non-stick pan (which has your garlic, bacon and mushrooms in it). Mix well. Turn off heat. Reserve some pasta water.

4. Add creme fraiche to the beaten egg and mix until combine. Then transfer everything from your non-stick pan to the large bowl of creme fraiche + beaten egg mixture. The heat from the spaghetti will cook the egg. Make sure you mix quickly (to prevent the egg from scrambling) and everything are coated with the sauce.

5. Lastly, add Parmesan cheese and some ground black pepper. Mix thoroughly. Serve warm with a dash of grated Parmesan on top. If you find the sauce too thick, add some pasta water to lighten the sauce. I didn’t have to add pasta water as my sauce was in perfect consistency.

Happy carbonara-ing!