Breakfast Carbonara is the product of having everything on hand in my fridge and chance to use up all those eggs. I love carbonara for many many reasons but one in particular is that it’s easy. Simple ingredients packed with flavor and comes together in under 30 minutes. It’s also a cheap but elegant meal.
When I was in culinary school there was many nights I would come home exhausted {I also worked 2 jobs at the time, the hustle was real} and really didn’t want to cook anything. Cheap eats a working student like me had in the pantry was always pasta, eggs, cheese, and if I was lucky enough I’d have some thick cut bacon in the freezer. This was quick to throw together and savor over a glass of wine before falling to sleep {usually on the couch} and waking up to do it all over again. Those were the days.
Fast forward to today and carbonara is still a complete comfort to me and it totally works for breakfast, lunch, and dinner. Breakfast pasta is a splash of variety in the monotonous eggs and bacon breakfast for the weekend. It’s also the perfect hangover cure. If you’re into things like that.
Justin always made me a dish he affectionately called “Eggs, noodles and cheese” for breakfast in college. It’s definitely a twist on carbonara but this just sounds a little more elegant. Also, eggs, noodles, and cheese contained Velveeta. Not that there’s anything wrong with that, Velveeta has it’s time and place.
The key to a good creamy carbonara is tempering the eggs before combining with the hot sausage and pasta. I save 1/2 cup of pasta cooking liquid and slowly drizzle into the eggs while mixing. It’ll make them velvety and creamy instead of scrambling. I usually don’t add actual cream to carbonara because it’s not traditional, but it’s brunch and the calories don’t count, so I added it.
Jimmy Dean Maple Sausage is my end all, be all, breakfast sausage. I use it in my breakfast burritos, scrambles, breakfast casseroles. You name it and it’ll be close by for breakfast. I like the added savory/sweet factor it has. You can use your favorite breakfast sausage for this recipe but I highly suggest Maple Sausage. Game changer, for real.
Wine Pairing Recommendation: Because it’s brunch, you know a mimosa is calling your name because I can hear it calling mine!
Breakfast Carbonara
Don't forget to save 1/2 cup of the pasta's cooking liquid before draining the pasta. This is used to temper the eggs before tossing with the hot cooked sausage and pasta. *Tempering eggs is a cooking technique when you slowly bring the temperature of the eggs up without fully cooking the eggs. This keeps the eggs from scrambling when you add it to the hot pasta. *For garnish I use a lot of fresh cracked black pepper. For a coarser grind you can crush whole peppercorns with a heavy pan on your cutting board. *When cooking pasta, always, always, always season your water with plenty of kosher salt.
Ingredients
- 1 pound Thin Spaghetti
- 5 whole Eggs
- 1 cup Heavy Whipping Cream
- 1/2 cup Parmesan Cheese, grated plus extra for garnish
- 1 teaspoon Kosher Salt
- 1 teaspoons Ground Black Pepper, plus extra for garnish*
- 2 tablespoons Olive Oil
- 1 pound Maple Breakfast Sausage
- 2 tablespoons Parsley, chopped
- 1 tablespoon Chives, chopped
Directions
- Step 1 Bring a large pasta pot full of water to a rolling boil.* Cook the pasta to al dente and reserve 1/2 cup of cooking liquid before draining the pasta.
- Step 2 In a large bowl add the eggs, heavy whipping cream, grated parmesan, kosher salt, and black pepper. Whisk until combined. While whisking, slowly drizzle in reserved cooking liquid to temper eggs.*
- Step 3 Meanwhile, in a large pan heat olive oil over medium high heat. Cook sausage while breaking apart with the back of your spoon. Cook until sausage is thoroughly cooked and edges are crispy. Turn heat off and remove from heat.
- Step 4 Add cooked drained pasta to the pan and toss together. While tossing slowly drizzle in egg mixture.
- Step 5 Add chopped parsley and chopped chives. Serve with extra grated parmesan and ground black pepper. Enjoy!
Savor and Enjoy!
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