American Fettuccine Carbonara with Bacon, Cream and Peas
Fettuccine in a creamy sauce of half-and-half and tempered eggs cooked to 160°F, with crisp bacon, onion, garlic, Romano and sweet green peas: the carbonara most Americans grew up with, made on purpose.
Ask for carbonara in Rome and you get guanciale, yolks and pecorino. Ask in an American kitchen and, very often, you get bacon, cream and maybe peas. That is not just an American mistake. Wikipedia says the first printed carbonara recipe was American, from a 1952 Chicago cookbook, that Italian recipes of the 1950s and 1960s still used cream, and that cream disappeared from Italian carbonara widely only in the 1990s. It adds that cream is still often used outside Italy because it makes the sauce more stable, and that peas, broccoli, leeks or mushrooms show up in versions abroad.
Taste of Home's Fettuccine Carbonara, by Susan Bronson, is honest about all of it. Its notes call the recipe "slightly nontraditional": bacon instead of guanciale, onion and garlic, half-and-half for creaminess, and an optional cup of peas. It also does what a Roman carbonara does not: it tempers the eggs with warm cream and stirs the sauce until a thermometer reads 160°F, the temperature its editors call key to making the eggs safe.
🇺🇸 This one is American
Fettuccine in a creamy sauce of half-and-half and tempered eggs cooked to 160°F, with crisp bacon, onion, garlic, Romano and sweet green peas: the carbonara most Americans grew up with, made on purpose.
🇮🇹 The original
In Rome carbonara is only guanciale, egg yolks, pecorino and black pepper, tossed off the heat into a glossy sauce. No cream, no peas, no garlic. See the Roman Spaghetti alla Carbonara (Guanciale, Egg Yolks, Pecorino, No Cream) recipe.
Why it works the kitchen science
Tempering
Warming the eggs with a little hot half-and-half before they go into the pan raises their temperature gently, so they thicken into a sauce instead of scrambling.
Dairy as a buffer
Half-and-half dilutes the eggs, so the sauce can be held over low heat long enough to reach 160°F while staying smooth, which a yolk-only Roman sauce cannot do.
Step by step
- Step 1
In a large skillet over medium heat, cook the bacon, stirring now and then, 8 to 10 minutes, until crisp. Lift it out with a slotted spoon onto paper towels. Pour off the fat, leaving 1 tbsp in the pan.
- Step 2
While the bacon cooks, boil the fettuccine in a Dutch oven of salted water until al dente, usually 10 to 12 minutes. Drain it and return it to the pot.
- Step 3
Add the onion to the drippings and cook over medium heat, stirring, 2 to 3 minutes, until tender. Add the garlic and cook 1 minute. Turn the heat to medium-low and stir in the half-and-half.
- Step 4
Whisk a little of the warm half-and-half into the beaten eggs, then pour the eggs back into the skillet, whisking constantly.
- Step 5
Cook, stirring constantly, 8 to 10 minutes, until the sauce thickens and an instant-read thermometer reads 160°F.
- Step 6
Stir in the Romano, salt, pepper and bacon. Pour the sauce over the fettuccine, add the peas and toss. Sprinkle with parsley and more Romano if you like, and serve right away.
American Fettuccine Carbonara with Bacon, Cream and Peas
Serves 6 · 6 plates · 30 min total
Bacon and aromatics
- 1/2 lb bacon strips, chopped
- 1 small onion, finely chopped
- 2 garlic cloves, minced
Pasta and sauce
- 1 package (16 oz) fettuccine
- 1 cup half-and-half
- 4 large eggs, lightly beaten
- 1/2 cup grated Romano cheese, plus more if you like
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 1/4 tsp pepper
- 1/2 cup frozen green peas, cooked
- 1 tbsp minced fresh parsley
Method
- In a large skillet over medium heat, cook the bacon, stirring now and then, 8 to 10 minutes, until crisp. Lift it out with a slotted spoon onto paper towels. Pour off the fat, leaving 1 tbsp in the pan.
- While the bacon cooks, boil the fettuccine in a Dutch oven of salted water until al dente, usually 10 to 12 minutes. Drain it and return it to the pot.
- Add the onion to the drippings and cook over medium heat, stirring, 2 to 3 minutes, until tender. Add the garlic and cook 1 minute. Turn the heat to medium-low and stir in the half-and-half.
- Whisk a little of the warm half-and-half into the beaten eggs, then pour the eggs back into the skillet, whisking constantly.
- Cook, stirring constantly, 8 to 10 minutes, until the sauce thickens and an instant-read thermometer reads 160°F.
- Stir in the Romano, salt, pepper and bacon. Pour the sauce over the fettuccine, add the peas and toss. Sprinkle with parsley and more Romano if you like, and serve right away.
Adapted from Susan Bronson, "Fettuccine Carbonara," Taste of Home (published January 1, 2018, updated April 29, 2024), 6 servings. We follow it as written: 1/2 lb bacon cooked crisp with 1 tbsp drippings kept; 1 lb fettuccine; a small onion cooked 2 to 3 minutes and garlic 1 minute; 1 cup half-and-half; 4 eggs tempered and stirred over medium-low 8 to 10 minutes to 160°F; 1/2 cup Romano, salt, pepper and parsley; and Taste of Home's suggested variation of 1/2 to 1 cup cooked peas stirred in at the end (we use 1/2 cup). The recipe's notes say "1/2 cup half-and-half," but its ingredient list and steps use 1 cup; we use 1 cup. The bacon cooking time is ours. Taste of Home. Ingredient list follows the source; the method is in our own words.
All sources (2)
Tips
- Use room-temperature eggs, Taste of Home advises.
- Parmesan works instead of Romano; Taste of Home notes it is less salty, so taste for seasoning.
- Stir constantly in step 5; the bottom of the pan is where eggs scramble first.
- Taste of Home suggests Caesar salad and garlic bread on the side.
The rules people argue about
What the sources agree on, what they don't, and what is just a good story.
- Cream in carbonara is an American invention. Disputed: Wikipedia says Italian recipes used cream until the 1990s and that cream is common outside Italy for stability; Roman cooks today leave it out.
- Peas don't belong. Folklore as a rule: Wikipedia lists peas among variations found outside Italy; Taste of Home offers them as optional.
- Carbonara came from American soldiers' bacon and eggs. Disputed: Taste of Home repeats the story; see Roman Spaghetti alla Carbonara for both sides.
- Cooking the sauce to 160°F makes the eggs safe. Documented: the FDA says egg dishes should reach 160°F; Taste of Home builds that into the method.
Every other pasta
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