The history of carbonara is interesting, it born from the requests of US soldiers who came to Rome, during WWII and wanted to have the American breakfast: eggs & bacon and the Roman chefs came up with carbonara!
The sauce of carbonara is very quick to make, you’ll only need black pepper, eggs and cheese. The pasta water helps you to decide the thickness of the sauce. No cream is added (Italians get mad if they see that!) but the sauce should have a creamy texture! Thats why the skills of chef is very important. It’s an extremely simple recipe which makes it very difficult to execute. (one wrong step can ruin the dish)
Ingredients | 2 servings
- 240g/8.4oz Spaghetti pasta
- 15g/0.5oz finely grated Pecorino cheese
- 15g/0.5oz finely grated Parmesan
- 80g/2.8oz Pancetta or Guanciale (your choice)
- 3 Eggs: 2 whole and 1 Yolk
- Freshly ground black pepper
Preparation
– Cut the pancetta (or guanciale) in small strips.
– First, sauté the pancetta on low heat, after 10 minutes the grease will melt slowly and comes out.
– Add freshly ground black pepper and continue to stir for some seconds.
Meanwhile, boil the salty water for pasta and add the pasta (remove 3 minutes prior to its cooking time )
– Add the pasta to the salty boiling water we will remove it 3 minutes prior its cooking.
Back to pan:
– When the pancetta becomes crunchy and the pan is greasy with the melted lard. Remove 1/3 of it for the decoration.
– Meanwhile, in a bowl add: 2 eggs and 1 egg yolk, grated pecorino cheese and parmesan, ground pepper, and mix lively. Add 1/2 cup of pasta water to have a dense cream.
– Remove pasta earlier while its still very “al dente” toss it directly into the pan.
– On high heat, stir and mix the pasta with the oil and flavors of pancetta. The pasta should sizzle at this point. Add a bit of pasta water that help us to mix easier.
– Turn off the heat. remove the pan from the stove. It is very important to lower the temperature.
– Pour the sauce into the pan and mix quickly. You’ll notice a creamy condiment covers the spaghetti and that is when the carbonara is ready! If it’s too thick add a bit of pasta water.
– The eggs should cook half-way so they maintain their creamy consistency. The temperature should be under 140F°-62C° otherwise they coagulate.
– Serve the carbonara with some crunchy pancetta on top.
Notes
- In case the carbonara is so runny, I saw some chefs stir the pasta on bain-marie! So the eggs will stay creamy while the pasta absorbs the liquid and makes it perfectly creamy.
- Many restaurants use “orange” color yolk eggs, for a more colorful carbonara.
- The most important thing is the eggs should be VERY FRESH. Otherwise they will have a unpleasant taste.
Serve it with some freshly grated black pepper on top and parmesan cheese!
Buon appetito! ☺️