Spaghetti alla Carbonara
Roman Pasta with Guanciale, Egg Yolk and Pecorino
Four ingredients and no cream. The sauce is egg yolk and pecorino, thickened by nothing more than the heat of the pasta and a splash of its cooking water. Get the timing wrong and you have scrambled egg; get it right and it coats every strand.
The Italian recipe read fries diced guanciale until its fat runs and the meat is crisp, beats yolks with pecorino in a bowl, and tosses the drained spaghetti with both away from the heat, relying on the pasta's own warmth to thicken the sauce.
The British recipe starts the guanciale in a cold pan for six or seven minutes and loosens the sauce with pasta water.
Ingredients
Ingredients
- 320 g spaghetti
- 150 g guanciale, cut into 1 cm strips
- 5 large egg yolks
- 60 g pecorino romano, finely grated, plus extra to serve
- 1 tsp black peppercorns, freshly and coarsely ground
- Salt, for the pasta water
Method
- Render the guanciale Put the guanciale in a cold frying pan and set over a medium heat. Cook for 6 to 8 minutes, stirring now and then, until the fat has melted and the pieces are golden and crisp at the edges. Take off the heat and leave in the pan.
- Cook the pasta Boil the spaghetti in well-salted water until just short of the packet time; it should still have a firm bite.
- Mix the sauce Meanwhile, beat the yolks, pecorino and pepper in a large bowl to a thick paste. Loosen with 2 tbsp of the pasta water.
- Combine off the heat Scoop out a mug of pasta water. Drain the spaghetti and tip it into the frying pan with the guanciale, off the heat, and toss for 30 seconds to cool it slightly. Tip everything into the bowl and toss fast, adding pasta water a spoonful at a time, until the sauce is glossy and creamy and clings to the pasta. If it looks like scrambled egg, the pasta was too hot.
- Serve Serve at once on warm plates with more pecorino and pepper.
Food safety
The egg yolks are only lightly cooked by the heat of the pasta. Use British Lion-marked eggs, which UK food safety advice considers safe to eat runny.
Warm the bowl with a little pasta water first, then tip it out. A cold bowl stops the sauce thickening.
Go easy on salt in the pasta water. The guanciale and pecorino are both salty.