For special occasions or daily meals, try this decadent pasta toss. I can prepare this dish in a half-hour after I get home from work.
| Prep Time: | 15 mins |
| Cook Time: | 25 mins |
| Total Time: | 40 mins |
| Servings: | 4 |
| Yield: | 4 servings |
Ingredients
- 3 cups rigatoni pasta
- 6 slices bacon, diced
- 2 cloves garlic, minced
- 1 ¼ cups milk
- 1 (8 ounce) package cream cheese, cut into cubes
- ½ cup butter, softened
- ½ cup freshly shredded Parmesan cheese
- ¼ cup fresh green peas
- ¼ cup diced cooked ham
Instructions
- Bring a large pot of lightly salted water to a boil. Cook rigatoni in the boiling water, stirring occasionally until cooked through but firm to the bite, about 13 minutes. Drain.
- Meanwhile, place bacon in a large skillet and cook over medium-high heat, turning occasionally, until evenly browned, about 10 minutes. Remove bacon with a slotted spoon, leaving drippings in pan; set bacon aside.
- Cook and stir garlic in the remaining bacon grease over medium heat. Add milk, cream cheese, and butter to skillet; stir until smooth. Stir Parmesan cheese, peas, ham, and bacon into cream cheese mixture; cook until peas are heated through, about 5 minutes more. Mix pasta into sauce to serve.
Nutrition Facts
| Calories | 778 kcal |
| Carbohydrate | 47 g |
| Cholesterol | 156 mg |
| Dietary Fiber | 2 g |
| Protein | 25 g |
| Saturated Fat | 32 g |
| Sodium | 975 mg |
| Sugars | 6 g |
| Fat | 56 g |
| Unsaturated Fat | 0 g |
Reviews
Left out the cream cheese and didn’t missed it.
Loved this dish! I basically made it as written, doubled the ham and peas and added a little mozzarella to make the sauce thicker. It is easy to make, but takes attention most of the time. Absolutely going into the rotation!
I made it but I substituted broccoli and extra bacon for the peas and ham. It was DELICIOUS!
This is amazing! Even the grandkids loved it! Will definitely make it again especially since my husband asked me to make it weekly.
It’s a great recipe but the butter (real butter) makes it too oily for my taste. I used just a touch to brown the garlic as I used pre-made bacon crumbles. I also added some fresh ground white pepper. My husband and I just gobbled it up!
I thought it was very tasty, but not eggy enough to be a real rich carbonara, so at the end I added a few egg yolks to the sauce after I took it off the heat. Yummy.
Very easy and quick meal to make,I had some ham I needed to use up and this was great dish for it. Ate it for lunch and dinner
simple yet delicious carbonara 5 stars
I doubled the bacon instead of using ham. I used Kerry Gold butter and half and half instead of milk. This recipe came out really good! Thanks for the recipe 🙂
Really yummy and easy. To me, the most pain is making the bacon.
Add this a little while ago and my wife and I loved it. Great flavour, easy instructions and simple ingredients resulted in a wonderful dish. Great as a side or a main and also well received at potlucks.
It’s pretty good, although not enough sauce. It doesn’t even vaguely resemble carbonara though. Carbonara has an egg-based sauce.
I made this to take to a sick neighbor and I must admit, at the last minute I almost changed my mind and kept it! It’s an easy go-to any night of the week.
really tasty
Haven’t made it but would leave out the ham be cause not fond of it and increase the bacon amount for the am. A true Carbornara then. Yummy.
Easy and delicious! We will have this again and again.
Big Daddy DOES KNOW how to cook!! Followed his recipe, but I did things just a tad different: 1 ) I oven cooked / browned the bacon and about six thin slices of pre-cooked ham, placing them on paper towels before dicing them. I poured the bacon / ham fat in glass measuring cup. 2) Using just a shade over 1 Tablespoon of bacon fat in skillet, I browned the garlic. 3) Used “garden herb” flavor cream cheese. 4) Found and used the most robust / nutty flavor SHREDDED Parmesan cheese out there—and I wasn’t shy about using generous amounts, either. And this was FAST EASY to make and serve—your family WILL love this !! If Big Daddy opens up his restaurant—I pray this recipe is on the menu!!
We all loved it.
Love it! Quick and easy. I followed the recipe but added onions to the bacon grease which I drained off. I didn’t have ham so I used all bacon and saved some to crumble on top. deliciously easyy.
Quick to prepare. Quite tasty and filling. We all enjoyed the dish prepared according to directions (thankfully I had all of the ingredients on hand).
Delicious! My whole family, including two picky children, devoured it. Thank you for this keeper!