Spaghetti carbonara (Pasta alla carbonara)

Name: Spaghetti carbonara (Pasta alla carbonara)
Total time: 20 min
Yield: 2
Cuisine: Italiana
Ingredients: 6 oz/180 g Guanciale; 7 oz/200 g Spaghetti; 3 very fresh egg yolks; grated salt black pepper; salt; 3.5 oz/100 g aged Pecorino Romano cheese

Carbonara is a popular recipe of Roman origin: this dish is quick and easy to prepare.

First, equip yourself with fresh and quality ingredients: pasta, eggs, aged pecorino romano DOP (sheep cheese), guanciale (cured meat from pork jowl) and black pepper.

The carbonara purists refuse to hear any reason: only the ingredients mentioned above are needed to prepare it and parmesan, pancetta, bacon, cream, onion or garlic are banned.

Despite this, however, there are many variations of pasta carbonara, all very delicious and succulent, such as the one with zucchini, the one with sausage and peas or the one with artichokes.

The ideal pasta shape for making carbonara is spaghetti, but vermicelli or bucatini are also equally pleasant. In any case, long pasta is ideal for this sauce.

Let's discover the traditional recipe for spaghetti alla carbonara! With our authentic recipe you can make it perfect every time!

Category: First Courses

of: Luca
Gatti

4,8/5 Vote
Total votes: 4

Prep Time 20 min

Difficulty Easy

Serving 2

Price Cheap

Ingredients for 2 people

6 oz/180 g Guanciale

7 oz/200 g Spaghetti

3 very fresh egg yolks

grated salt black pepper

salt

3.5 oz/100 g aged Pecorino Romano cheese

Preparation

How to make carbonara, the original italian recipe

First, throw the spaghetti into boiling salted water and let them cook.. [1]
Cut the slices of guanciale into chunks, without removing the fat. [2]

Fry the chunks of bacon in a pan (without adding oil) until they becomes slightly crunchy (but without letting them burn) and set the pan aside. [3]
Beat the yolks in a bowl, add plenty of pepper, 2 or 3 spoons of grated pecorino and a pinch of salt. [4]

Drain the pasta (keeping a little cooking water aside, to mix better if necessary), pour it into the bowl and stir everything continuously, adding the guanciale with its cooking fat. [5]
Finally, grate plenty of pecorino cheese [6], after which the dish is ready to be served.

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1 2 3 4 5 Total votes: 4, Average rating: 4.8

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Advice, Tipps and Tricks

You can make it lighter by replacing the guanciale with bacon, which is less fat.
Furthermore, if the pancetta or guanciale are placed in a non-stick pan, there will be no need to add oil for cooking.

Remember that the eggs should not be added to the pasta still on the heat: in this case, in fact, the eggs would cook and you get a sort of omelette.

About the carbonara sauce:

In the original carbonara recipe the use of cream is not foreseen, which in any case is used by many as a variant to add creaminess.
In any case, it is enough to mix the egg yolks and the pecorino properly to obtain the right creaminess: a carbonara without cream will be less caloric and therefore lighter.

Another variant involves the use of half a dose of Parmesan and half a dose of pecorino.

We recommend using the bacon cut into strips rather than diced, as the former is more crunchy and flavoursome.

Occasion

Carbonara is perfect for a lunch or a romantic dinner.

Wine

Redwine

Curiosity

On April 6th, enjoy the flavors of Italy and celebrate National Carbonara Day

The secret for a perfect carbonara?

dried pasta, not fresh; guanciale not pancetta; and pecorino. A real carbonara does not contain, garlic, onion or cream.

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