Fettucine Carbonara

This is one of those super simple recipes that makes me wonder why on earth people would pay for a jar of pre-mixed sauce when it’s so easy to make a basic Alfredo sauce at home. We enjoyed it for dinner last night before scurrying out the door to baseball, and it was just perfect . . . and beat the cost of a meal at Macaroni Grill any day! If you need a yummy, frugal recipe to add to your menu plan this week, you can’t beat this easy meal deal.

Since this recipe is laden with calories, I substituted the regular bacon for pre-cooked turkey bacon (it was just so easy to add in that way, and saved quite a bit of time!) I think it would taste amazing with the real stuff, but it was pretty delicious even after saving a few calories. And if you haven’t tried out DiGiorno’s Fresh Parmesan (found in the deli case), I definitely recommend splurging on some this week while it’s on sale Buy One Get One Free at Publix ~ it takes any recipe from just okay to absolutely perfect, so if you have a little wiggle room in your budget, grab some DiGiorno. 😉

Fettucine Carbonara

adapted from All Recipes

Ingredients

1. 5 tsp. olive oil Pompeian Olive Oil BOGO $11.99 at Publix, use $1/1 Pompeian Olive Oil or NEW OlivExtra Plus printable
2. 1 large onion
3. 4 shallots, diced (optional, we didn’t have these on hand so I left them out)
4. 1 pound bacon cut into strips Jennie O Turkey Bacon on sale $1.99 at Publix, use $1/1 Jennie O Turkey Bacon or $0.55/1 Jennie-O Turkey Bacon Package, exp. 11/16/12 (SS 09/23/12 R)
5. 1 clove garlic
6. 1 package fettucine pasta Mueller’s Pasta BOGO $1.95 at Publix
7. 3 egg yolks
8. 1/2 cup heavy cream
9. 3/4 cup shredded Parmesan cheese Digiorno Fresh Parmesan BOGO $4.78 at Publix (I promise this stuff is worth splurging on . . . it’s amazing how perfect it makes any Italian recipe taste!)
10. salt and pepper to taste

Directions

1. Heat olive oil in large skillet over medium heat. If using shallots, saute until softened (we didn’t use them, just to make life easier!) Meanwhile, start boiling water to cook fettucine noodles, and then cook noodles according to package directions.
2. Stir in onion and bacon cut in strips, and cook bacon until it’s evenly browned. Stir in garlic when bacon is about half done. Remove from heat.
3. Whisk together egg yolks, cream and shredded Parmesan in small bowl. Drain pasta and return to pot, then add bacon mixture and stir in cream mixture. Season with salt and pepper and serve.

 
Thanks to I Heart Publix for the coupon matchups, and check out $5 Dinner Mom for more bargain meal deals! If you need a little more menu inspiration, go HERE.