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Breakfast Carbonara
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- Total Time
- 45 minutes
- Rating
- Notes
- Read community notes
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Ingredients
- 1tablespoon grated orange zest
- ¼cup flat-leaf parsley leaves, finely chopped
- ¼cup fresh bread crumbs
- 1tablespoon kosher salt
- 8ounces dried linguine, preferably whole wheat
- 2teaspoons olive oil
- 8ounces breakfast sausage, either bulk or removed from its casings
- 2scallions, thinly sliced
- 4large eggs, room temperature
- 3ounces Pecorino Romano, finely grated
- 1teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
Preparation
- Step 1
Combine the orange zest, parsley and bread crumbs in a small bowl and set aside.
- Step 2
Add 2 quarts of water, salt and linguine to a large sauté pan. Cover and bring to a boil over medium-high heat. Reduce the heat to low and cook for 4 minutes, or until the pasta is al dente.
- Step 3
While the pasta is cooking, heat the oil in a 12-inch skillet, preferably cast-iron, over medium-high heat until it starts to shimmer. Add the sausage, breaking it into pieces with a spoon, and brown. Add the scallions and cook for a few minutes until fragrant.
- Step 4
While the pasta and sausage cook, whisk together the eggs, cheese and pepper.
- Step 5
Drain the pasta, reserving a ⅓ cup of the starchy water. Add the pasta to the sausage mixture, tossing well to coat.
- Step 6
Remove from heat, add the egg mixture and toss some more, adding some pasta water to loosen the sauce.
- Step 7
Serve immediately with a generous sprinkle of the parsley mixture.
Private Notes
Cooking Notes
This sounds like a fun meal, but I am confused as to how the eggs get cooked. I find it improbable that 4 eggs will cook in just the heat from just-boiled pasta, so are we missing a crucial step here? The kind of step that would prevent you from serving pasta with a "sauce" of uncooked scrambled eggs??
all carbonara is breakfast carbonara
I have seen the error in my ways. I made it this weekend with great success. The cast iron did its job and the orange zest topping was especially delicious; the only change I'll make in the future is to use hot sausage. Thank you all for educating me on the marvels of carbonara!
That the sauce is cooked this way is the definition of carbonara. Direct heat would cause the eggs to scramble, which is decidedly not what you want here. The residual heat cooks it plenty.
Plus, eggs are safe, especially if gotten from ethically raised hens.
True enough. But when you substitute a good Southern sagey sausage for pancetta, the palate knows it's breakfast in Rome, Georgia and not dinner in Rome, Italy.
the heat from the pasta along with the pasta water is more than enough to "cook" the eggs properly. Remember, this is a sauce not scrambled eggs. Different.
For carbonara, I heat a pyrex bowl in the oven @ 200 degrees. this adds additional heat in event pasta is not piping hot when you mix with the eggs. Works perfectly without any scrambling effect.
Linguine should not be added in cold water, but only once it's boiling. Then cook for 6-7 minutes (or the time reported on the package) until it's al dente. Also, a true carbonara is made with yolks (1 yolk every 100g of pasta) and 1 full egg (in Rome we say it's for the saucer haha).
Yes, eggs need to be room temp. If in a hurry, bring eggs to room temp by placing eggs (still in shell of course) in a bowl with warm water for a while.
Eat enough breakfasts like this and you’ll increase the size of your carbonara footprint.
a wok is also good for making carbonara
I've made pasta carbonara many times and the eggs do indeed cook in the just-cooked pasta. It helps a lot if you bring the eggs to room temperature as the recipe calls for. Enjoy!
"Whole wheat" pasta is not any better than regular pasta. Both are refined, highly-processed flour. For it to be healthier, it would have to be whole-grain, such as Barilla or Racconto brands (most of the everyday brands don't make a whole-grain pasta).
Loved this easy and delicious dish! My only note, and I realize it's completely subjective, would be to omit the orange zest. I found it a bit overpowering and thought it diminished the flavor balance between the pasta, eggs, sausage and cheese. I might have felt differently had I served it with mimosas! There are so many variations you can do, based on your own personal preferences, which makes this a very versatile recipe.
Not using cast iron probably contributed to the eggs not cooking. Post-flame cast iron has a lot of latent heat and will have enough energy to get the job done.
Amazing!! Don’t skip the topping it makes it!! My two year old wouldn’t let me have seconds as he wants another bowl later
Delicious, quick, and easy! I appreciated the tip on heating the linguine along with the water. It reduced the overall cooking time, and the pasta was still exactly al dente. The eggs cooked perfectly from the heat of the pasta and residual heat of the cast iron.
Excellent! Followed directions closely and it was delicious.
woops - didn't mean add that note...feel free to remove from approval list
use bacon instead. Add garlic powder and chili flake
This is weird but I think good weird. I toasted my bread crumbs a little before mixing them and left out the parsley since I didn’t have any. Added the greens to garnish and used Parmesan (what I had) and was still very happy. The orange zest is an interesting kick and I love the idea of it being all the flavors of breakfast.
Phenomenal. Definitely not an every morning breakfast but a surprisingly easy weekend brunch indulgence. I made fresh breadcrumbs, and reduced eggs to 3(one with just yolk only) and added a little more cheese just because, why not? This was excellent. I used a bit less zest and that helped brighten the dish without over powering it.
Followed the instructions, expecting it to cook like regular carbonara. But because of the high volume of eggs, there wasn't enough heat in the pasta and sausage when I stirred it together off the heat. I wound up putting it back on the stove and stirred like crazy to keep it more of a sauce than scrambled egg - a little pasta water helped. Results fabulous.
Subbed bacon for sausage, and basil for parsley, otherwise made as directed. My cast iron must have been too hot as my eggs scrambled and didn’t sauce. Probably needed more pasta water too. In any event, it still tasted yummy. Perfect for a lazy snowy morning. Nap next!
Substituted bacon for sausage, otherwise followed to the letter. Drained some of the bacon grease and added pasta and egg mixture to the hot cast iron skillet - eggs did not scramble for me. I would have added a touch more pasta water for creaminess.
We used 12 oz of pasta and next time would add an additional scallion and hot pepper flakes. Divine!
Eat enough breakfasts like this and you’ll increase the size of your carbonara footprint.
A chef friend of mine says most salmonella from eggs are from dirty shells. He recommends blanching the eggs in boiling water for just a few seconds. Maybe this would help when your eggs are not room temperature?
Tried this without the sausage. It really needs the sausage
Room temp eggs!!!!! Nutritional analysis per serving estimated by Edaman (6 servings) 371 calories; 18 grams fat; 6 grams saturated fat; 0 grams trans fat; 7 grams monounsaturated fat; 2 grams polyunsaturated fat; 33 grams carbohydrates; 5 grams dietary fiber; 1 gram sugars; 19 grams protein; 165 milligrams cholesterol; 566 milligrams sodium
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