Bucatini With Lemony Carbonara

This is one of our family favorites. I sub in bacon because its always on on hand. I also use an extra egg yolk to make a bit richer,

• Sherri

• Sacramento, CA

• 1/23/2022

I made granola with egg whites and needed to use 2 egg yolks right away (they do not hold up at all) rather than making a giant cesar salad, I opted for this. Delightful! Using just the yolks made the carbonara easy and silky. The lemon adds just the right brightness. This is a real keeper.

• marstudio

• San Francisco, CA

• 2/1/2021

This carbonara was excellent. You don't need the olive oil, as the rendered fat from the bacon/pancetta was plenty for me. I omitted the lemon and zest which made it just a normal carbonara, which was what I was shooting for. I added more black pepper probably 1.5-2 tsp in total (i like my carbonara's peppery), and a dab of butter (for richness) with the onions/garlic since I omitted the zest. Turned out perfectly. I think the process of adding yolks only is a great idea. I normally think carbonara's are a lot of work, because you need a warmed bowl and put eggs in but not too hot then pasta etc. etc. The key to this recipe for me was just using yolks, which made it fool proof. It simplified the carbonara process significantly without reducing flavor or the glossy texture of carbonara.

• Anonymous

• Los Angeles, CA

• 6/26/2020

I have made this many times often adding shrimp with a touch of white wine and cognac it is one of my husbands favorites.

• happyck

• Los Angeles

• 2/20/2020

Stayed pretty close to the recipe. I keep half-cooked bacon in the freezer, so used that, plus it's less fatty that way. Probably made up for it with a bit of extra Parmesan. Garlic and shallots were good, but use onion if you don't have those at hand. Found I didn't have the whole wheat spaghetti I intended to use, but it worked with ww penne just fine. The two egg yolks were just right. I didn't present it as Carbonara, just "dinner" and Husband liked it fine. He appreciated that the lemon made it a little different - a nice change, he thought. Solid 3 forks, very repeatable.

• pametcalf

• Fremont, CA

• 2/5/2020

Love this recipe we have a meyer lemon tree in our back yard and we love lemon pasta, I use irish loin bacon, and whole wheat spaghetti and it is always a hit. Easy meal to pull together on a weeknight, Just be sure to use high quality cheese and lots of pepper makes all the difference.

• happyck

• Los Angeles, CA

• 11/29/2018

I love this so much I’m making it again this afternoon, for about the tenth time this year. I keep vacuum-packed, chopped pancetta around just so I can whip it up on a whim. Classic carbonara can be heavy and taste fatty. The lemon here really lightens up the flavor. I greatly prefer carbonara this way.

• ula_ashore

• Texas

• 12/30/2017

Love the twist on a classic. Lightens it up a bit - really yummy!

• gmag

• CA

• 4/9/2017

Not terrible, but one of those recipes that tweaks a classic for the sake of novelty but doesn't improve on it. This dish mostly made me want to make a regular pasta carbonara; the lemon was OK but didn't really excite anyone.

• carld

• Fairfax, VA

• 4/7/2017