Carbonara Pasta Bake with the Thermomix® is reliable oven cooking: raw pasta goes straight into the sauce, then into the dish. No pre-cooking, no extra pot of boiling water. The uncooked pasta absorbs the liquid from the cream and stock mixture during the baking time, cooking through while the Parmesan crust forms on top.
We make this bake several times a month when time is short and everyone needs to be well fed. The carbonara principle works in a bake just as well as in a pan: eggs and Parmesan emulsify with the hot sauce to create a creamy binding. The processed cheese stabilises the emulsion further so nothing curdles.
Carbonara Pasta Bake with the Thermomix®
Ingredients 0 / 10 ✓
- 150 g Parmesan
- 30 g olive oil
- 200 g diced bacon lardons
- 100 g vegetable stock
- 200 g double cream
- 150 g processed cheese
- 2 eggs
- 200 g milk
- 400 g pasta
- freshly ground pepper
Instructions 0 / 8
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1
Grate the Parmesan.
Cut Parmesan into pieces, place in the mixing bowl and grate for 7 seconds / speed 8, then set aside.
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2
Sweat the ingredients.
Place oil and bacon lardons in the mixing bowl and cook for 7 minutes / 100°C / reverse direction / speed 1.
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3
Cook the ingredients.
Add vegetable stock, double cream and processed cheese and bring to the boil for 5 minutes / 100°C / reverse direction / speed 1.
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4
Mix the Parmesan mixture.
Meanwhile, whisk eggs with milk and 50 g Parmesan. Preheat the oven to 200°C top and bottom heat.
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5
Simmer the sauce.
Simmer the sauce for a further 3 minutes / 80°C / reverse direction / speed 1 and slowly pour the egg, milk and Parmesan mixture through the lid opening.
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6
Transfer pasta to the baking dish.
Place pasta and sauce in the baking dish and mix well.
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7
Bake the pasta.
Sprinkle pasta with the remaining Parmesan and bake for 35 minutes on the middle shelf.
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8
Serve.
Divide onto plates and serve sprinkled with freshly ground pepper.
Tip: Serve with a salad.
Video
Nutrition per serving
Grating Parmesan: 7 seconds at speed 8
Hard Parmesan is finely grated in the Thermomix® in 7 seconds at speed 8. Too short and you get coarse pieces, too long and it turns to dust. Seven seconds is the point at which Parmesan retains a slightly grainy texture that distributes evenly during baking and forms a crisp crust. Set the grated Parmesan aside straight away rather than leaving it in the mixing bowl.
Cooking the bacon: fat and flavour for the sauce
Bacon lardons need 7 minutes at 100°C on reverse direction speed 1 so the fat renders and the bacon lightly browns. Too short and the sauce turns watery, too hot and the bacon burns. Reverse direction prevents the pieces from being chopped up. The fat from the bacon becomes the base of the carbonara sauce, which is why this step is not optional.
Egg, milk and Parmesan: slowly through the lid opening
The mixture of eggs, milk and Parmesan must run slowly into the sauce at 80°C while the Thermomix® stirs on reverse direction speed 1. Too fast and the egg sets into lumps, too hot and the mixture curdles immediately. At 80°C the egg yolk emulsifies with the fat; at 100°C it would coagulate. This temperature discipline is the difference between a creamy sauce and scrambled egg flakes.
Raw pasta straight into the dish: no pre-cooking
The uncooked pasta goes directly into the baking dish without any pre-cooking. The sauce must be liquid enough for the pasta to cook through during the 35 minutes of baking at 200°C. Too little liquid and the pasta stays hard, too much and the bake turns soupy. The ratio of 400 g pasta to 300 g liquid (stock plus cream plus milk) is the balance.
Parmesan crust: remaining cheese on top
The remaining Parmesan is scattered over the pasta before the dish goes in the oven. At 200°C top and bottom heat the cheese caramelises in the first 15 minutes, after which the crust forms. If you add the Parmesan later, this time is lost and the surface stays pale. The crust needs the full baking time.
Processed cheese as a stabiliser
Processed cheese prevents the egg and milk mixture from curdling during baking. It contains emulsifying salts that stabilise the protein and hold the emulsion together. Without processed cheese the sauce would break in the oven and turn watery. With it, the carbonara binding stays creamy even after 35 minutes at 200°C.
After baking: leave to rest for 5 minutes
Goes well with: Parmesan.
Straight from the oven the sauce is still liquid. After 5 minutes of resting it thickens through the starch in the pasta and becomes firm enough to portion. If you cut into it immediately, the sauce runs out of the dish. After 5 minutes each portion holds its shape.
Find more bakes from the Thermomix® here:
- Bakes with the Thermomix®
- Carbonara with the Thermomix®
- Aglio Olio e Peperoncino with the Thermomix®
