This is probably a dumb question but I am trying to make pasta carbonara and the recipe calls for proscutto. From what I understand, its alot like bacon, so will my recipe taste different (worse) if i just sub in bacon?
Prosciutto is an Italian air dried ham, not at all like bacon, but you can use it to make carbonara or use bacon or pancetta which is an Italian unsmoked bacon. It is all a matter of taste.
Truthfully, a more authentic carbonara would be made with pancetta and not prosciutto. So for a substitute Bacon would be your closest. As well, and not that I am suggesting you try it, but the original carbonara does not have cream in it (or milk etc). The sauce is made strictly from the drippings of the pancetta and the egg wisked in to make sort of a ‘warm mayonaise’ idea of a sauce.