Creamy Carbonara a la Aga: Throwback to the ’90s

Good day, friends. As you know, I looooove pasta. And for this issue, I will share my recipe for Creamy Carbonara a la Aga. I have read somewhere that authentic carbonara does not have cream and relies mainly on the flavors of eggs, meat, and salt. Yet, I know some Italians who favor the creamy version. In any case, eggs are what carbonara is all about. Anyways, this pasta dish is reminiscent of the pasta (spaghetti) alla carbonara of Angelino’s, the go-to place for lovers’ dates and hang-out venue for friends and officemates after work. I used to frequent this branch in Megamall. Ah, that was the early ’90s. Yup, sadly, it is no longer around.

I have seen and tried various versions of creamy carbonara online and from these versions, I took what I thought were the best bits and created my own version. And it turned out to be exactly like the Angelino’s version in terms of taste and texture. It has also been a constant request from family and siblings for potluck gatherings like Christmas reunions. Here it goes… hope you will like it.

Ingredients

spaghetti (500g or more)

4 to 6 beaten eggs

3 onions (finely chopped)

5 garlic cloves/segments (finely chopped)

2 to 3 tetra packs of Nestle all-purpose cream

1 can of Carnation evaporated milk

bacon (500g, chopped into small squares)

cooked ham (250g or more, sliced into small long rectangles)

butter (regular size, Anchor or Magnolia Gold)

mushrooms (canned, sliced pieces and stems)

cheese (grated)

a pinch of salt

Cooking Instructions

1.  Cook the pasta per package instructions (or until al dente) and set aside.

2.  Using a big frying pan, fry the chopped bacon until golden brown and crispy. Set aside the bacon bits after draining excess oil from bacon.

3.  If there’s too much oil from bacon, just leave half of the oil on the pan. But if you like really sinful food, use all the bacon oil on the frying pan to sauté garlic. Add butter before garlic gets cooked. Add onions, then stir. Add mushrooms, then stir. Add ham, then stir.

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4.  After about 3 minutes (or when the ham is already cooked), pour in the all-purpose cream (2 tetra packs for 4 eggs; 3 tetra packs for 6 eggs), then stir. Pour in the evaporated milk then stir, until boiling. Hinaan ang fire. (Grabe, ang bango, di ba?) Then add a pinch of salt (as in isang kurot lang).

5.  (Etong part na ‘to, medyo tricky.) Pour in the beaten eggs then stir. Before the eggs get cooked, add the pasta. Pakonti-konti lang ang lagay ng pasta habang hinahalo mo (dapat, malakas braso mo. hehe!), maybe in 4 batches. Just keep on stirring or tossing till pasta has absorbed the sauce. Magbubuo-buo yung eggs habang nakadikit sa pasta. (Ang ganda. Akala nung iba cheese yun, egg pala.) Put off the fire.

6.  It is now for serving. Transfer to a pyrex. Then top with grated cheese and bacon bits.

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7.  Ready to serve.

8.  Lalong mai-in-love sa iyo asawa mo. Hehe!

9.  Madadagdagan ang baby nyo. Hehe ulit!

Key rule: Tantyahan lang yan. Trust your sense of taste.