I accidentally fell in love with carbonara in Athens.

Here’s a quick glimpse of the recipe:
A pound of spaghetti
A cup of chopped bacon
2 cups of heavy cream
A cup of parmesan cheese, grated
A clove of garlic (or two. or five.)
Half a teaspoon of ground black pepper

Have you ever made Italian carbonara before? It’s a classic Roman pasta, and somehow raw eggs and parmesan magically become a creamy sauce…? I’ve made it from scratch, I’ve eaten it in the streets of Rome itself, and neither way was very appealing to me. It would never ever be something I ordered all on my own- until now.

We had been in Greece less than 24 hours, and we were starving. We had slept about 20 of those hours, so we were getting desperate. We wondered the streets under the shadow of the Acropolis looking for anything everyone could agree on, and we stumbled upon this funky little pasta shop that made all their pastas fresh, right there, feet away from the street.

To attempt to speed the process, we all took a seat and Bird took our orders up to the window. When he brought back the cardboard cups filled with our dinner, I was immediately turned off. Why was mine white? And why was there bacon? But I was starving, so I did what every good traveler does- I dove in fork first.

When I tell you it felt like my eyes were opened for the first time that day, I’m only being slightly hyperbolic. It was cheesy and savory and creamy, and I could not believe this was the same carbonara I had turned my nose up at so many times.

But it wasn’t. Apparently, Greek carbonara is a very different take on the classic. No raw eggs in sight. I immediately knew this would be a recipe I had to crack when we got home, and I’m so glad I did. And so are the rest of my family, for that matter.

So here’s what I do:
First, get your water boiling for your pasta. In the amount of time it takes to cook the pasta, your sauce will be finished.

Of course, you can cook bacon and chop it up to make this, but I have found this bacon from Sam’s to do the job quite nicely.

I start with about a cup of it in my skillet. Heat it up and watch it dance. It will release some bacon grease, and that’s good. We want that stuff.

Once the bacon is nice and crunchy, add in your minced garlic. Let it cook for a minute or so, but be careful to guard against burning. Add in your cream, pepper, and parmesan cheese. Give it a good mix, and turn your heat to low. Let it simmer until your pasta is finished cooking. You may have noticed I don’t add any extra salt. The bacon and cheese have lots of salt in them, but if you feel the need to add more, I’d do it after I give the finished sauce a taste.

When the pasta is al dente, add it directly to the sauce, but make sure and reserve a cup or so of the pasta water. That starchy water is going to loosen up the cream sauce and avoid it being too thick and dry. Add in just enough water to get a nice, smooth consistency.

I like to top mine with some extra bacon and cheese that I had reserved, and I dig right in.

This pasta comes together so quickly, and it is the perfect easy lunch!