Spaghetti Carbonara

Name: Spaghetti Carbonara
Prep time: 5 min
Cook time: 15 min
Total time: 20 min
Yield: 2
Ingredients: 160 g dried spaghetti; 1/2 tsp salt; 1 clove garlic, chopped; 80g Pancetta, diced; 1 Handful fined grated pecorino romano; 3 egg yolks

by @cheese.and.han | Hannah

2 Servings

20 min

Spaghetti Carbonara is one of my favourite pasta dishes! I love how creamy it is, it always amazes me how the authentic version of this dish doesn't include any cream. It's simply the starch from the pasta water combining and emulsifying with the cheese and egg yolks which creates a silky delicious sauce.

I like to use Pancetta in my recipe because its easy to get hold off, but guanciale is better if you can get your hands on it. If not, use streaky bacon.

I have listed pecorino romano here as the cheese of choice, but if you can't find that use parmesan cheese instead.

Spaghetti Carbonara

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Recipe details

Yield 2 Servings
Time spent: Prep time: 5 Minutes Cook time: 15 Minutes Total time: 20 min

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% Daily value

Instructions

1. Cook the spaghetti according to the packet instructions
2. Meanwhile fry the garlic in a little olive oil. Add the Pancetta and cook until crispy
3. In a separate bowl, add the egg yolks and mix in the cheese to make a paste
4. Once the pasta is cooked, add it to the frying pan with the Pancetta, scraping any crispy bits off the bottom. Turn off the heat.
5. Add in a ladleful of the pasta water, mix thoroughly and then add the egg yolk mixture, stirring constantly to avoid scrambling.
6. The starchy water will combine with the cheese and eggs and emulsify to create a really creamy sauce
7. Enjoy!

Comments

Em on Nov 28, 2021

Pasta water is very weak if you boil pasta in the typical 6 quarts per lb. For the smaller amount in this recipe, you should use less water to begin with,

I use a pain-de-mie pan and 5 cups of water / lb. I boil it until the water almost disappears. The flavorful starch is concentrated and you are not throwing it down the drain. Talk about a thickener for the sauce!

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