Just for clarification we have three main types of cream in the UK

Single cream - around 18% fat
Whipping cream is double that at 36% fat
Double cream (the kind I generally use) is 48% fat

and then there is clotted cream at 55% and extra thick double creams which can be spooned rather than poured, they’re about 50% fat.

For a pasta recipe, so long as the cream has around 20% fat (or more) it should be fine. Just stay away from faux creams made up of vegetable oils.

I understand half-and-half to be equivalent to a mixture of half single cream and half whole milk.

I always do that. I don't cook enough to be able to 'wing it'. But especially the first few times. Stuff I've made for ages (aka, my chicken tortilla soup) I can do in my sleep, but with new recipes all ingredients, utensils, etc, laid out in advance. And even then it can be tricky if it's a 'fast' recipe. I'll try the carbonara on Saturday & report back.

Cheers.

I already have a couple of questions, but I'm at work so will post them later.

Cheers.

I make a carbonara from a famous "celebrity" chef who many pooh-pooh, but this comes out delicious every time and has no cream (or milk for that matter).

You'll see the name if you google "Bacon and Egg Coal Miner's Pasta" - which actually calls for pancetta, I've used both, but it's the combo of combining the egg yolks, parmesan cheese and pasta water that gives it its thickness.

I think that many who pooh-pooh that chef is due to a number of factors that make them look unserious. But if you like their cooking, go for it.

Personally, I just find it scary how a number of famous chefs look like during the pandemic, no one wanted to eat their stuff but them...

And to paraphrase another chef, "I mean you are the boss, of your homemade carbonara sauce"...

Did I miss something? How did it turn out?

You didn't miss anything. I was so busy at work & so tired when I got home I decided to make chicken tortialla soup that I can make in my sleep.. I'm off work today, so going to try & make the pasta cabonara today.

Ok, first time not the charm - although it wasn't the eggs turning into scrambled (they didn't) that turned out to be the problem.

I used gfunkdave's recipe above, although amended in technique a bit with an Ina Gartner method that I saw in a video.

While waiting for eggs (and other ingredients) to get to room temperature, I probably watched 6 pasta carbonara videos. I think I was video'd out at that point! All but Ina said no cream. She used cream (I did not).

Anyway:

* the amount made was way too much for one person, so in future I'd scale back on the recipe unless making it for multiple people.

* one chef I watched suggested doing full eggs (the traditional way) vs. 1/2 eggs & 1/2 egg yolks. no idea if that made a difference. I did the full eggs Would have to do the 1/2 & 1/2 method next time to do a comparison.

* could have used more water that one ladles in to make it more creamy (the pasta absorbed too much, which made the dish dry; the various chefs used a lot more water)

* but the big screw-up was that I ended up burning the pancetta! I cook w/ pancetta a lot so surprised myself when it happened, so while the dish was eh, okay, it wasn't great because of that & being a bit too dry.

* I think what happened is that gfd's recipe said do the egg mix while the pancetta's cooking & i waited too long to get started on the egg mix, so the pancetta was further along & when I turned back just a minute or two later, the pancetta was crispy to burnt.

I ended up eating some of the dish, but as noted, too large a quantity, too dry, and the 'extra crispy' (aka, burnt) pancetta made it ok, a good try but move on to other dishes & maybe circle back some other time. Or get someone who knows how to make it well make it at my place so I can watch.

Cheers.

It isn't an exact science ...if it seemed too dry to you, you could just add more of the pasta cooking water. Keep adding and stirring until it looks right to you. This is not a dish for an inexperienced cook as many times it requires little adjustments rather than following what is written in stone. I applaud you for trying but as I said, it can be a bit of a high wire act. It is just one of those dishes. And i dont think it reheats well and it is hard to make a small quantity.

I'm not trying to push my recipe, which I've had great success with, but I'm curious about the eggs....my recipe (or rather, RR's recipe) calls for 1 whole egg and 1 egg YOLK, since egg yolks are a known thickener...you mention 1/2 egg whites, which to me are much lighter, not a thickener, and quite frankly, I use mostly for airy meringue.

I'm sorry it wasn't perfect. First time recipes seldom are. But it's how we learn.

It will be great next time.

Sorry, meant to say egg yolk & not egg white. I'll go back & correct that in my update post.

And yes, next time I would add more pasta water as well as adjust the recipe/size down. I agree w/ corky that this isn't really a dish that would do well on reheating.

The insult to injury is that my condo smelled like burnt pancetta last night, even though I cleaned up thoroughly after cooking. Grrr.

Today I'm going to make lemon chicken piccata, which is one of my go-to dishes that I've made so many times I could do it in my sleep.

Cheers.

lemon chicken piccata - mmmm, one of my favorites, too. Funny, all of these recipes have soooo many variations. This one I use unsalted butter and anchovies along with the capers.

I'm trying to work through all the "classic" Italian pasta dishes. So far the only disappointment has been Amatriciana.

I get my pancetta from Trader Joe's, the stuff that's already diced up even though most recipes say chop it up yourself.