Pasta Carbonara Recipe

Very well-known pasta recipe

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Here we have some very basic recipe for Pasta Carbonara.

cat is eating pasta carbonara This cat image is generated by AI model Flux 1 dev.

Pasta Carbonara is named like this because black pepper reminds pieces of coal.

History

When after WWII american soldiers were stationed in intaly they had eggs and cured bacon in their rations. And as they asked local cooks to prepare something with these - the cooks were adding pasta, chese and olive oil. That’s how Pasta Carbonara was born. Later some famous american actress popularised this dish.

Ingredients and Preparation

  1. 350g spaghetti
  2. 100g pancetta or thick cut bacon, diced
  3. 100g (1 cup) pecorino or parmesan (or mix of these) cheese
  4. 3 large eggs
  5. 2 garlic cloves peeled and left whole
  6. 50g unsalted butter or 1 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil
  7. sea salt and freshly ground black pepper

Meat Types

Can be guanciale, pancetta, bacon or any similar cured or smoked pork

Cooking Process

  1. Cut bacon into small cubes

  2. Finely grate cheese

  3. Sauce – Whisk together the egg, cheese and pepper in a large bowl. Leave some (1/3) cheese for topping.

  4. Cook pasta – Bring large pot of salted water on to boil with 1 tablespoon of salt (1 tablespoon salt for every 2 litres of water). Cook the pasta per packet directions.

  5. Sauté the pancetta or bacon and garlic: While the pasta is cooking, heat the olive oil or butter in a large sauté pan over medium heat. Add the bacon or pancetta and cook slowly until crispy. Add the garlic (if using) and cook another minute, then turn off the heat and put the pancetta and garlic into a large bowl.

  6. When the pasta is al dente (still a little firm, not mushy - Move the pasta from the pot to the bowl quickly, as you want the pasta to be hot. It’s the heat of the pasta that will heat the eggs sufficiently to create a creamy sauce). Pasta should be firm, not soft, but fully cooked through.

  7. Reserve pasta cooking water – Just before draining, scoop out one cup of pasta cooking water. Then drain the pasta. Or use tongs to take pasta out of the pot.

  8. Toss everything to combine, allowing the pasta to cool just enough so that it doesn’t make the eggs curdle when you mix them in. (That’s the tricky part.)

  9. Add the beaten eggs with cheese. Add salt to taste. Add 1/2 cup pasta cooking water back to the pasta to keep it from drying out.

  10. Toss quickly to combine once more with the handle of a wooden spoon, spinning the pasta around, for around 30 seconds to 1 minute. Watch as the watery pale yellow liquid transforms into a creamy sauce.

  11. Serve immediately in warm bowls: Serve at once with the rest of the parmesan and freshly ground black pepper. If you want, sprinkle with a little fresh chopped parsley.

Serving

Serving example

pasta carbonara serving example

Seen this? This is just an example, not the proper ammount of food to my taste…

Hints

  1. Timing is important - make everything ready (eggs broken and mixed with cheese, garlic pealled etc)

  2. If sauce is too runny - return back to the pot and slowly heat till required consistency

See also