Carbonara

INGREDIENTS

• 5 rashes of bacon cut into small slices
• 2 cloves garlic finely chopped
• Good quality chicken stock cube – not oxo
• 150 ml boiling hot water
• 300 gms chicken tenderloins cut into thin slices
• Thinly sliced mushrooms (2 large field or small container of button)
• A large dollop of butter to cook the mushrooms in
• 1 stick of spring onion finely sliced
• 1 small container of thickened – not delicious dollop just thickened – cream
• Pasta of your choice

METHOD

1. Fry the bacon, when it is almost crispy throw in the garlic – cook for a couple of minutes it is better if garlic doesn’t go brown as this can make it taste bitter)​

2. Tip out the fat from the bacon but leave the actual bacon and the garlic in the pan.​

3. Crumble the stock cube into the boiling water (this is now called stock)​

4. Pour the stock in the pan with the bacon and garlic.​

5. Bring to the boil then let the liquid reduce by about 1/3.​

6. Put your pasta on to cook in boiling water now.

7. Add the chicken let it boil for about 3 minutes in the stock.

8. While the chicken is boiling add the mushrooms to a different pan with the butter – let the butter go a golden brown before adding the mushrooms.

9. While the mushrooms are cooking add the cream to the bacon and chicken mixture – people will tell you, you can’t let cream boil that is BS you can, a trick to thicken the cream is let it boil then take it off the heat, let it boil again repeat repeat repeat until you get it to a consistency you like.

10. Add the finely chopped spring onion – if you don’t have one that will be fine – salt and pepper.