Tagliatelle Carbonara

So I'm starting off with a simple, classic, comfort food - good old pasta carbonara.

I'm using Tesco today as an example, where you can find:
I'm going to use Tesco for the fresh ingredients as well, as this will give you a like-for-like comparison, but savings can be made at your butcher and greengrocer, or market.

Findus Tagliatelle Carbonara 360g £1.99, meaning £3.98 for 2 people.

Let's check out a simple version using fresh ingredients - all except the pasta that is, as dried pasta can be as good if not better than some fresh pasta, and I tend to prefer the texture myself.

Preparation and cooking time: 15-20 mins.

Tesco Tagliatelle 500g (only 1/2 of this needed)	£0.95
Tesco Value Cooking Bacon 500g (only 1/4of this needed)	£1.17
Tesco Fresh Double Cream 300ml (only half of this needed)	£0.84
Tesco Garlic Each (only 1 clove needed)	£0.34
Tesco Ciabatta Roll x 2	£0.24
Total	£3.54

You'll also need salt, pepper, oil and any herbs you want to add, which will add to an initial cost but oncce you have them in your cupboard they're there for months and you won't have to buy them again to use in other recipes. I'll post another suggestion with some basic herbs to keep in your cupboards at all time.

Place half of the pasta in a saucepan and add water to cover plus about 1/2" (12mm) over.
Add 1 tbsp salt to the water and bring to the boil.
When boiling, add the pasta to the water and make anote of the time - you'll need to check it in about 12-15 minutes.

Take 1/4 of the bacon and chop into small strips about 1/4" or 5mm wide.
Put the rest of the bacon in the fridge for future recipes or bacon sandwiches ;)

After the pasta has been cooking for 5 minutes, heat a frying pan over a low heat and add the bacon and garlic and a pinch of pepper. Cook until it starts to sweat and there are juices appearing in the pan. If you have any, add some oregano or basil at this stage (dried is fine).
Turn up the heat to medium and cook for another 5 minutes.

Add the cream to the bacon, check the pasta to see if it cooked. You should be able to bite through it easily, with just a little bit of resistance in the centre (al dente). Of course, if you like your pasta soft and squishy, cook it a bit longer - you don't have to eat it the way the professionals recommend ;)
Drain the pasta thoroughly when cooked then return to the saucepan and add 1 tbsp olive oil if you have it, or a small knob of butter, and stir it in.

Cook the bacon, herbs and garlic in the cream for a couple of minutes until the cream is bubbling and has thickened slightly.

Add the bacon and cream mixture to the saucepan with the pasta and mix it all together.

Serve hot with a nice crusty ciabatta roll.

You've now saved yourself £0.44p, have a fridge full of useful ingredients (you could cook this meal at least twice from the cost!), and had yourself a tastier, healthier version of the meal WITH NO ADDED CHEMICALS!!!

As you can see, the actual cost of the meal was less than £2, and I'll post an improved version of this if your budget stretches slightly more.