The Real Carbonara

The Classic Spaghetti Carbonara

Simple, authentic and delicious. The three words best used to describe this incredible dish. Remove yourself from the more traditional British way of cooking a carbonara with cream and cook it the true Italian way using the freshest of ingredients. The dish requires just five ingredients to create, which all cooked properly creates an extraordinary blend of flavours. You can almost picture yourself eating this dish on the streets of Rome.

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All the ingredients needed!

Serves 2:

Ingredients:

200g Dried Spaghetti

150g Pancetta or bacon lardons (cut into small pieces)

2 Cloves of garlic

40g Parmesan cheese + extra to garnish (finely grated)

2 Large free-range eggs

Olive oil (may not be needed)

Pepper

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Method:

Step 1:

Crack the two eggs into a bowl, add the grated parmesan cheese and season with black pepper. Use a fork to mix well and set aside for later.

Step 2:

Heat a pan water with a pinch of salt in until the water begins to boil. Add the spaghetti to the pan and simmer the pasta with a closed lid for around 8-10 minutes until it becomes al dente.

Step 3:

Whilst the spaghetti is cooking, put a medium sized frying pan on the heat and add the chopped pancetta whilst the pan is still cold. There is no need for oil at this stage as the heat from the pan melts the fat of the pancetta creating its own fat to cook in. (Add a small amount of oil if there is very little fat on the pancetta)

Step 4:

Peel and crush the garlic with the palm of your hand and add the cloves of garlic to the pan to flavour the fat the pancetta is cooking in. Cook the pancetta for about 5 minutes until the meat starts to crisp up.

Step 5:

Once the spaghetti is ready, remove the garlic from the pan and add the pasta. Toss the pasta around in order to blend the amazing flavours making sure to reserve some of the pasta water to create the sauce in the next step.

Step 6:

Remove the pan from the heat and wait for the mixture to stop frying whilst adding a splash of the pasta water to the pan. Add in the egg mixture and stir well. The heat retained in the pan cooks the egg mixture gently rather than scrambling it. From there add more cooking water until the sauce becomes the right consistency and leaves an amazing glossy look on the pasta.

Step 7:

Serve and garnish with the remainder of the grated parmesan cheese and black pepper.

Have you tried this recipe? Let me know in the comments.

Inspired and adapted from: Jamie Oliver (2019) Gennaro's classic spaghetti carbonara. Available from https://www.jamieoliver.com/recipes/pasta-recipes/gennaro-s-classic-spaghetti-carbonara/