Fresh take on pasta carbonara: Whole egg pasta carbonara includes pancetta

Summer is made for recipes as short, simple, speedy and satisfying as this.

Clocking in with just seven ingredients, this delicious take on pasta carbonara will have you in and out of the kitchen in under 20 minutes. It varies from traditional carbonara by not incorporating the egg into the cheese “sauce” with which the pasta is tossed.

Instead, the egg is fried separately and then served over pasta that has been tossed with crisped pancetta. When broken over the pasta, the runny yolks create an amazing sauce for the pasta, blending perfectly with the flavours of the Parmesan and pancetta.

Feel a need to add greens to your meal? Serve the whole thing over a bed of arugula, which will wilt slightly from the heat of the other ingredients, as well as soak up any of the egg that drips to the bottom

Whole Egg Pasta Carbonara

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Start to finish: 20 minutes

1 pkg (340 g/12 oz) fresh linguine

250 g (8 oz) finely chopped pancetta

30 ml (2 tbsp) butter

4 eggs

Salt and ground black pepper

375 ml (1 1/2 cups) grated Parmesan cheese, divided

Bring a large saucepan of salted water to a boil. Add pasta and cook according to package directions. Reserve 50 ml (1/4 cup) of the cooking water, then drain pasta.

Leave pasta in colander to drain. Return saucepan to heat. Add pancetta and cook until just crisp, about 5 minutes. Add pasta, then toss well. Cover and set aside.

In a large skillet over low heat, melt butter. Keeping them separate, crack eggs into skillet and cook sunny side up until whites are set and yolks are still runny, about 5 minutes. Remove skillet from heat. Season eggs with salt and pepper.

Add 250 ml (1 cup) of the cheese to pasta and toss to melt. While tossing, drizzle in just enough of the reserved cooking water to help cheese coat pasta. Arrange pasta on 4 serving plates, then top each mound with an egg. Sprinkle each serving with a bit more cheese. If desired, use a fork to break each yolk just before serving.

Makes 4 servings.

Nutrition information per serving (values are rounded to the nearest whole number): 790 calories; 420 calories from fat (53 per cent of total calories); 46 g fat (23 g saturated; 0 g trans fats); 355 mg cholesterol; 50 g carbohydrate; 42 g protein; 3 g fibre; 1,580 mg sodium.