Lutong Bahay: Pinoy-Style Creamy Carbonara

Lutong Bahay is a short tag on the title which I use to feature home-cooked food, either in our own home or at a friend's house.

My parents and friends know me as the girl who eats a lot but can't really cook. However, there are days that I get motivated to play around in the kitchen, and today was one of them. For merienda, I volunteered to cook Carbonara. And although real Italian Carbonara makes use of raw eggs, cheese and pancetta, I decided to make the Pinoy-style creamy version.

This tasty pasta dish is fairly easy to cook. I bet most of you already have an idea or even your own recipe, but let me share with you how I cooked mine.

Ingredients:

• 1 head minced garlic
• a dash or two of pepper
• 2 cans Cream of Mushroom Soup
• 250mL All-Purpose Cream
• 300g shredded bacon
• Spaghetti (or your choice of pasta)
• Parmesan cheese
• Olive Oil

Procedure:

1. Cook the pasta based on instructions and set aside.
2. Fry 1/4 of the shredded bacon to a crisp and set aside.
3. Sauté garlic in olive oil and add the remaining 3/4 of the shredded bacon.
4. When the bacon is cooked (make sure it's not too crispy), add the cream of mushroom soup and 1 1/2 cup of water.
5. Add all-purpose cream and stir the mixture gently.
6. Add 1/2 cup of Parmesan cheese (optional, but I love to do this).
7. Season the sauce with pepper depending on your liking.
8. Serve the pasta topped with the creamy sauce, crispy shreds of bacon and more Parmesan cheese.

My version of Carbonara is creamy and very tasty. I love how the bacon in the sauce is quite chewy, while the bacon topping is so crispy. This might not be the authentic version, and I might not be a great cook, but this simple yet delicious pasta dish got my family's stamp of approval. How about you, anything you've cooked recently?