Creamy, cheesy, classic Filipino-style carbonara meets 2021’s viral baked feta pasta trend. But instead of tossing a block of feta with cherry tomatoes, this recipe keeps it closer to home with a local swap: kesong puti.
Better yet, you won’t need your oven. Everything happens in one pan: You cook the kesong puti and cherry tomatoes until they soften and burst, then pour in Fiesta’s Creamy Carbonara Sauce. The ready-made sauce coats the soft cheese and tomato and, after a hit of grated Parm and torn basil, becomes a perfect milky blanket for your pasta.
Top with crispy bacon at the end—we’re still making Filipino carbonara after all—or swap with smoked tinapa, even skip the protein entirely. This carbonara stays cheesy and tangy, creamy and fresh, familiar yet new.
What is Filipino-style carbonara?
Filipino-style carbonara adapts traditional Italian carbonara to Pinoy tastes and local ingredients. Instead of Italy’s combination of eggs, guanciale, and Pecorino Romano, Filipino-style carbonara features cream, bacon or ham, and Parmesan cheese. Sometimes even mushrooms!
If this sounds more like an Alfredo than a carbonara, the purists will agree. But while the haters get caught up with labels, we’re embracing Filipino-style carbonara for what it is. Who cares what the Italians have to say—this carbonara’s delicious, nostalgic, and unapologetically Pinoy.
This recipe presents a twist inspired by the viral baked feta pasta. The cream, cheese, and bacon are all still here, made fresh with the addition of bursted cherry tomatoes and soft, creamy kesong puti.
What is kesong puti?
Kesong puti, literally meaning “white cheese”, is a native soft cheese. Traditionally, it’s made with carabao milk curdled with calamansi or vinegar, seasoned with salt to draw out moisture, then wrapped in fragrant banana leaves.
Kesong puti has a salty-tart flavor with textures ranging from creamy to crumbly, depending on how it was produced. While you’re most likely to see it with toasted pandesal and tsokolate, home cooks have found plenty of ways to incorporate kesong puti into other dishes: freshly cubed for a salad; wedged into lumpia and turon; tossed into pasta (like this one!).
Use Fiesta’s Creamy Carbonara Pack!
Fiesta has the perfect Creamy Carbonara Sulit Pack for that perfect dish. Because it has spaghetti noodles and a ready-to-pour creamy carbonara sauce, you’re covered from pantry to plate in under 30 minutes! Whether you’re cooking up comfort on a busy weeknight or preparing a crowd-pleasing party dish, Fiesta has your back—all for just P144.
Ingredients
Ingredients
- 1 Fiesta Creamy Carbonara Sulit Pack
- 3–4 strips bacon, diced
- 2 tbsp olive oil
- 1 whole garlic, peeled and minced
- ¼ cup unsalted butter
- 400g cherry tomatoes
- 400g kesong puti, cubed
- 1 chicken broth cube
- ¾ cup grated Parmesan cheese
- ½ cup chopped fresh basil, more for garnish
- chopped parsley, for garnish
- salt and pepper, to taste
Cook pasta: Bring a pot of salted water to a boil. Cook Fiesta Spaghetti to package instructions or until al dente. Reserve ¾ cup of pasta water. Drain spaghetti and set aside.
Make bacon bits: Add bacon to a pan over medium-high heat (no need to preheat the pan). Cook, stirring frequently, until crispy. Transfer bacon bits to a paper towel-lined plate to drain. Set aside until ready to use.
Pour off bacon fat if using for the next steps. Otherwise, get started in a wide skillet.
Start carbonara sauce: Heat olive oil over medium heat. Add garlic and unsalted butter. Cook garlic in the melted butter until golden, about 3–5 minutes.
Add tomatoes: Add cherry tomatoes, shaking the pan to distribute them in an even layer. Cook, stirring and swirling the pan frequently, until tomatoes begin to burst, about 5 minutes.
Add kesong puti: Add kesong puti. Cook, stirring frequently, until it starts to soften.
Finish sauce: Pour Fiesta Creamy Carbonara Sauce into the pan. Add chicken cube, Parmesan cheese, and chopped basil. Stir to dissolve chicken cube and Parmesan into the sauce. When sauce starts to boil, reduce heat to medium-low. The carbonara sauce should be creamy, dotted with tomatoes and kesong puti.
Add pasta: Add cooked spaghetti to the pan. Use tongs to swirl pasta until evenly coated with sauce. If the sauce looks too thick, add pasta water in small additions to loosen it.
