Spaghetti alla Carbonara
How to do it right, so you don't end up with pasta and scrambled eggs.
A few weeks ago, we wrote about how to make an authentic Amatriciana. This week, its cousin, la carbonara, called us.
As a reminder, four interrelated recipes dominate Rome’s pasta scene - cacio e pepe, gricia, carbonara, and amatriciana:
Cacio e pepe is made with Pecorino Romano and black pepper only.
Add guanciale to a cacio e pepe, and now you have a gricia.
Add tomato to the gricia, and you have an Amatriciana.
Add egg yolk to the gricia, and it becomes carbonara.
There are differing theories about the origin of la carbonara’s name. Some say that it was a preferred dish of Italian coal miners (carbonai, or carbonari in Romanesco dialect) because of the non-perishable nature of the dry pasta, guanciale, and Pecorino Romano, and the availability of fresh eggs from the hens that they kept in their yards.
Others maintain that the recipe was created for American soldiers following the 1944 Liberation of Rome – a combination of Italian pasta and the bacon and eggs preferred by the North American troops.
An authentic carbonara has only five ingredients: pasta, guanciale, egg, Pecorino Romano, and black pepper. There’s no cream, butter, olive oil, garlic or onion. Use the sharper, more pungent Pecorino Romano, not Parmigiano. Don’t substitute pancetta for guanciale. They are not the same thing. Pancetta comes from the Italian word pancia, or belly, and is made from pork belly. Guanciale comes from the word guancia, which means cheek, and is made from pork jowel. Guanciale is fattier than pancetta and has a more intense flavor.
Equally important is the technique – you want the eggs to be creamy, not scrambled. First, the yolks are beaten with black pepper, and then the Pecorino is mixed into the eggs to form a pulp. Next, a bit of the sugna, or cooked-off fat from the guanciale, is incorporated to help pasteurize the eggs before the mixture is added to the pasta. Finally, a few ladles of cooking water are added to the eggs and pasta to complete the pasteurization and to render the carbonara creamy. It takes practice, but the result is so very worth it.
Watch Stefano make carbonara at the end of the recipe.
Ingredients
2-3 servings
300 grams spaghetti
100 grams of guanciale
6 egg yolks
Ground black pepper
100 grams Pecorino Romano, finely grated
Instructions
Bring a large pot of water on the stove to a rolling boil.
Cut the guanciale into about 1/4 inch or 2 cm strips.
In a large saucepan, slowly fry the guanciale, letting it sweat until crisp on the outside and tender on the inside. When done, remove from heat, remove the guanciale, and set aside. Leave the oil in the saucepan.
Place the yolks of 6 eggs into a bowl. Grind some black pepper on top and beat by hand.
Add about 70 grams of the Pecorino Romano to the eggs and stir together to make a thick paste. Save the remaining Pecorino.
Pour about half of the sugna, or cooked-off fat from the guanciale, into the egg mixture and stir vigorously.
Drop a handful of salt into the pasta water and add the spaghetti.
When the spaghetti is one minute shy of al dente, remove it from the boiling water with kitchen tongs and add it directly to the saucepan with the oil from the guanciale. Preserve the pasta cooking water.
Mix the pasta quickly and vigorously over medium heat until it is coated with the oil.
Add a ladle of the pasta cooking water and continue to stir vigorously.
Add the egg and Pecorino mixture and continue to stir quickly until a creamy sauce is formed, adding more cooking water as needed.
When the carbonara is ready, transfer the spaghetti to pasta plates, dividing the creamy egg mixture evenly among the dishes. Top with guanciale and a generous sprinkling of Pecorino Romano.
Notes
Although spaghetti is the pasta traditionally used for carbonara, it's not uncommon to find rigatoni alla carbonara on the menu in Roman eateries. Some say rigatoni are preferred because the creamy carbonara sauce works its way into the inside of the rigatoni. We've wondered if it’s because rigatoni are easier for the tourists to eat. Either way, rigatoni are worth a try.
Making carbonara for a crowd is challenging. Start with smaller portions, and as you perfect the technique, work on bigger batches for entertaining. 100 grams of pasta is about one serving size. For every 100 grams of pasta, use two egg yolks, 30-35 grams of guanciale, and 30-35 grams of Pecorino Romano.
Let us know what you think!