Mushroom Carbonara

124 Comments / 5 November 2021

A dish that is sure to satisfy your creamy pasta crave. This rich carbonara with meaty mushrooms is quick to make and even quicker to devour.

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I dedicate this post to the 70p family pack large mushroom I bought in Lidl. I’m a sucker for bargain grocery items! I do need to use them right away though. Which is why I have also made breaded mushrooms to go with my mushroom katsu curry!

Carbonara has such a signature smooth and creamy taste. I thought I needed Gordon Ramsay skills to make it! It has now become my go to dish when I need a 15-minute dinner. Once you’re comfortable with the heat factor, you’re gonna want to make it every day.

Are you surprised that Carbonara doesn’t use cream?

This is fantastic because 1) nobody keeps a tub of cream handy in the fridge, and 2) if I do, they come in whipped form, of course.

The creamy sauce comes from eggs and cheese, gently cooked from residual heat. Heat is critical in this recipe. You want a lustrous-looking pasta, not an unfortunate scrambled egg noodle..

Residual heat from the pasta turns the egg-cheese mixture into the signature creamy carbonara sauce. Here’s what to do: remove the pan completely from heat, then toss the pasta in the pan along with the egg-cheese mixture vigorously. It will look messy at first, but you will be in awe as you witness your pasta turn silky and glossy and ready to serve!

I was genuinely nervous about scrambling my eggs in the beginning, but that has never happened! Once (only once..), I had to put it back on heat because it was runny. But never scrambled! Ha! I take that as a victory; you can fix raw eggs, but not scrambled eggs.

Why this is going to be your new 15-minute dinner pasta:

Eggs, butter and cheese are kitchen staples. I got the mushrooms for a bargain, but we always have deli meat in the freezer.
Ingredients are kitchen staples that don’t spoil fast. We always keep grated cheese handy in the freezer. Swap pecorino with parmesan or cheddar if you like.
It takes less than 15 minutes from chopping to serving. It’s the best excuse to make this dish every day!

Tips for a silky, glossy carbonara:

Use room temperature eggs. Cold eggs get clumpy in your carbonara, and you don’t want scrambled eggs.
Remove from heat before you add eggs. When pasta is cooked, toss them into sauteed mushrooms pan, and remove pan from heat. The egg-cheese mixture is cooked from residual heat from cooked pasta, not from the pan. Stir vigorously when adding egg-cheese mixture, and the residual heat will beautifully turn it into a creamy sauce.
Boil pasta in salt water. Italians say pasta needs to be cooked in salty water, as salty as the Mediterranean! As a rule of thumb, add 2 teaspoons of salt for every 100 g of pasta and 1000 ml of water. The slight saltiness in pasta adds that extra touch to the overall dish.

Have you tried this recipe? Do you have other tips to make Carbonara? Let me know in the comments!

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3.19 from 32 votes