I had some leftover canadian-style bacon, and Madeleine loves carbonara, so the decision was clear.  Except I didn’t have cream!  But I did have cream cheese, so I improvised.  The result was creamy and rich, and perhaps a bit less fat as well!

 

Ingredients

2 Tb olive oil and 2 Tb butter

1 cup diced bacon (homemade of course! I used my canadian-style bacon which has less fat)

2 garlic cloves, minced

1/4 cup (100 g) cream cheese

2 cups (450-500 ml) whole milk

1 egg yolk

1/2 cup grated parmesan cheese

1/2 cup minced fresh parsley

1 tsp ground nutmeg (I freshly grate mine from whole nutmeg)

1/2 tsp black pepper

Pasta of your choice (I used small penne)

 

Add the olive oil and butter into a pan on low heat, then saute the bacon and garlic for about 5-7 minutes.  Meanwhile, in a separate dish heat the cream cheese and milk in the microwave until warm (to soften the cream cheese), and then mix in the  the egg yolk, parmesan cheese, parsley, nutmeg and black pepper until combined.  Add that mix to the bacon-garlic mix and heat on low until simmering, about 3-5 minutes.  Turn off the heat and toss with pasta.  Serve and enjoy!