Rooster Carbonara - The Keep At Dwelling Chef

It’s simply too darn simple to like Rooster Carbonara with that velvety sauce, crispy bacon, and pecorino romano cheese. Significantly, how may you not love this dish? And, including hen to a traditional carbonara makes this meal a bit extra substantial, so it’s not simply loading up on the pasta.

However if you do exactly need to load up on the pasta, go for our Authentic Pasta Carbonara.

Why Our Recipe

Prepared in simply half-hour which is ideal for weeknight dinners.
Deliciously juicy hen provides to the traditional pasta to make it extra filling.
The sauce is velvety clean, made with eggs, pasta water, and pecorino romano cheese.

Closeup shot of tongs picking up chicken carbonara in cast iron pot.

No want to attend for a special day to order this at your favourite Italian restaurant when you understand how simple it’s to make. Take pleasure in this at your kitchen desk every time the craving hits! Add some hen to a traditional carbonara and it’s a complete meal prepared in half-hour. You continue to have that superb, thick-cut bacon and a velvety egg and cheese sauce. Should you don’t have pecorino romano, you may all the time cheat and use parmesan—we gained’t inform if you happen to gained’t. We do it on a regular basis!

Ingredient Notes

Ingredients used to make chicken carbonara.

Thick-Reduce Bacon: You’ll be able to all the time substitute pancetta for bacon which is the genuine ingredient. Pancetta isn’t all the time as simple to return by and might be dearer, so we default to bacon as the higher choice for many of our viewers.
Rooster Breasts: Boneless, skinless hen breasts are nice for this recipe. Cube into bite-sized items.
Eggs: You’ll need giant grade AA eggs for this recipe. You’ll use a mix of egg whites and entire eggs for the proper silky clean sauce.
Spaghetti: Simply use from the field. Prepare dinner to al dente, tender however agency.
Pecorino Romano Cheese: You’ll be able to simply substitute with parmesan cheese. Simply be sure it’s freshly grated as pre-grated doesn’t soften as easily and might make the sauce gritty.
Parsley: It’s simply there so as to add a pop of shade. It’s optionally available, however makes it look a bit extra fancy.

Rooster Choices

We favor to make use of boneless skinless hen breasts, however you would all the time use hen thighs if you happen to favor darkish meat or a fattier minimize of hen. These boneless skinless hen thighs are all the time juicier than the breasts.

Time & Cash Saver

You’ll be able to simply use leftover hen or shredded rotisserie hen on this recipe. You’ll want about 2 cups or you may actually load it up with a cup or two extra. Rotisserie hen is commonly bought as one thing known as a “loss chief” for grocery shops the place they promote the hen at or beneath value to get you into the shop and hopefully purchase different issues. Which means rotisserie hen is commonly the very best value per pound for hen you may get. Save a bit time, save a bit cash.

Pasta Choices

Spaghetti is the normal alternative for pasta in a carbonara, nonetheless, you don’t have to really feel tied to that. You could possibly use nearly any lengthy, skinny pasta form. Different favorites are linguine, fettuccine, and bucatini.

Overhead shot of chicken carbonara in cast iron pot.

Pasta Water

Pasta water is the key weapon when combining pasta and cheese. The starch that’s pulled from the pasta in the course of the cooking course of emulsifies (binds) the substances collectively, making a clean sauce. No clumpy cheese right here. You’ll be able to all the time use a bit extra pasta water to regulate the thickness of your sauce as wanted.

Wait till the final minute to get your pasta water in order that the water is filled with starch. Dip the sting of a glass 2-cup measuring cup into the pot of pasta water and fill the cup, ensuring you get a minimum of 1 1/2 cups. Then, you may go forward and drain your pasta.