You don’t need to travel to Italy to have delicious Pasta Carbonara, nor need to go to fancy restaurant either. You can have this creamy heavenly good dish at the comfort of your home. Carbonara is Italian Pasta dish from Rome . It is consider that this recipe comes from the region of Lazio and it’s made with only few ingredients-eggs, cheese-Pecorino-Romano and Parmigiano-Reggiano, black pepper and cured pork- guanciale or pancetta and spaghetti.
This simple, yet delicious pasta dish is world known and a lot of people are afraid to make it home, because its hard to prepare the creamy sauce which is made from egg yolks and graded cheese. Don’t worry I will tell you step by step how to make this creamy sauce without to scramble the eggs and without using cream. A lot of recipe you will find use heavy cream, but that is not Carbonara. The important thing to achieve the perfection of the sauce is to use good quality ingredients and I believe the ratio of Pecorino and Parmigiano should be 80/20. Also instead using the whole eggs I like to use only the yolks, it is making the sauce more velvety and creamy.
You Need:
| Egg Yolks | 5-6 | |||||
| Guanciale or Bacon | 1 slab | |||||
| Spaghetti | 1 box | |||||
| Parmigiano-Reggiano | 1/3 cup | |||||
| Pecorino-Romano | 1/2 cup | |||||
| Black Pepper | 1/2 tsp. | |||||
| Salt | to taste | |||||
| Fresh Parsley | 1 Tbsp. |
Instructions:
In a large pot add water and a tablespoon of salt and olive oil and bring to boil. After the water reach the boiling temperature add the spaghetti and cook it following the instructions on the box.
In a mixing bowl whisk together the egg yolks and the Pecorino and Parmigiano cheese.
While the pasta is cooking, in a large skillet over medium heat place the cut guanciale or bacon, cut into 1/4 inch thick and 1/3 inch square pieces. Don’t add any oil, the guanciale or bacon will release their own fat. Cook until the pieces get crispy, not burn. remove the cooked guanciale and set it aa side. Remove the pan from stove and set it aside. Remove the pasta from the water a minute before is done and add it to the pan. You need to make sure the pan is remove from the stove and its a little cool of before adding the hot pasta and then mixture of eggs and cheese. That way you will not end up with scramble eggs.
Before you add the pasta in the pan, add a little of the pasta water , add the eggs and cheese mixture and whisk everything well. Add a little bit of the pasta water if need it so you can achieve the creamy sauce. Add the guanciale and fresh black pepper. Whisk everything again.
Serve immediately while is hot.
I like to set a side some of the guanciale and sprinkle the crispy goodness on top of the pasta with some fresh chopped parsley and more cheese.
Get a glass of nice Chardonnay and enjoy!
Buon Appetiot!