The Best Roman Style Carbonara

A traditional recipe for the best Roman style carbonara! Using only a handful of ingredients – eggs, guanciale, black pepper and pecorino Romano, this recipe will teach you how to make creamy, perfectly emulsified carbonara the proper way. Once you try my recipe, I promise you won’t make it any other way!

For anyone that has known me for even a small amount of time, they will know that carbonara is my death row dish. Salty, creamy, cheesy, carby goodness. You could say I am fanatic about carbonara. Which is why I heavily tested this recipe for the better part of 12 months before sharing with the world.

There are some incredibly strong opinions on carbonara: ingredients, how to make it, the type of pasta etc etc. I could go on but honestly the longer I spend writing this the longer it will take for me to publish the actual recipe so I will cut it short and just note that you only need four – yes, four – ingredients to make a proper carbonara and no, none of them are cream.

Guanciale, eggs, Pecorino Romano, black pepper.

The key to creaminess is utilizing the magic that is pasta water. Trust the process and trust your judgment. Although there are only a few ingredients, this is a somewhat technical dish, but an easy one once you’ve tried it.

Why you’ll love this Roman-style carbonara recipe

• Authentic Roman technique with no cream.
• Silky, glossy sauce from eggs and pecorino.
• Only 5 ingredients.
• Perfect comfort food for any season.

Ingredients you’ll need

• Good quality pasta, preferably bronze-die extruded – about 100-150g (3.5-5oz) per person, depending on the shape. For rigatoni I use 100g per person, spaghetti I use up to 150g per person.
• Guanciale – cured pork jowl and the traditional cut of meat used to make authentic carbonara. If you can’t find any, pancetta would be the next best option.
• Eggs – use good quality eggs for best color and flavor. I always look at number of hens per hectare when choosing eggs, and preferably purchase from farms where hens are pasture-raised.
• Pecorino Romano – this sharp and flavorful cheese from the Lazio region is essential for carbonara – it has a distinct flavor profile that is noticeably different to parmigiano reggiano.
• Black pepper – freshly cracked from peppercorns.

How to make this Roman-style carbonara recipe

1. Cook the pasta

Bring a large pot of salted water to boil and cook your pasta until almost al dente.

2. Slowly render the guanciale

Guanciale is cut into small cubes and slowly cooked from cold over a low-medium heat until crisp and the fat has rendered off. Removing from the pan once cooked but reserving its fat.

3. Prepare the egg mixture

In a bowl, whisk together eggs, finely grated pecorino, and a generous amount of freshly cracked black pepper.

4. Start forming your emulsion

Add the almost al dente pasta and some pasta water to the pan with guanciale fat.

5. Add the eggs to the pan

Add some pasta water to the eggs to temper them, then taking the pan off the heat, add the eggs to the pasta – stirring and tossing vigorously. You can then reintroduce heat to thicken the sauce, or add more pasta water to thin it if it’s too thick.

6. Finishing touches

Serve immediately, with freshly cracked pepper and extra grated pecorino Romano.

Tips and tricks for making the best carbonara of your life

• Use the smallest grater you can find – finely grating the cheese helps it melt deliciously smoothly with the eggs and avoids any stringy, melted cheese bits in your sauce. I used the finest, powder grade on a box grater (that funny looking star-shaped spikey one!)
• Temper your eggs – adding pasta water to the eggs before adding to the pan will essentially do the job of tempering and help you avoid a scrambled egg situation. I find this step is essential in carbonara making territory. Think of it as preparing your eggs for the heat of the pan, so they’re not “shocked” when added – effectively this helps stabilize them.
• Remember this is an emulsion – carbonara is similar to an emulsion, where we’re combining water with fat and agitating it to form a stable sauce. And while there are a few different methods for bringing a carbonara sauce together, this is the most forgiving in my humble opinion. I prefer to add a bit more water to the eggs to create a loose cream-like consistency, before adding to the pasta, then coaxing it into a luscious crema. You can always thicken a sauce, but you can’t fix a scrambled one. This process is similar to thickening a custard or béchamel sauce, just to give you a visual.
• Pasta water is key – make sure you keep extra pasta water on hand to lend itself to the sauce as needed, if you find it’s too thick and need to loosen it.
• Serve immediately – carbonara is best served immediately as the sauce will continue to thicken as it cools. If you are planning to serve this family style, I recommend taking it off the heat while it’s still just a touch too thin, so you don’t have a coagulated sauce when serving at the table.

Substitutions and variations

• If you are halving this recipe for one person, use one whole egg and one yolk only (no need to add an extra yolk for the pot with this portion).
• Guanciale is a cured meat made from pork jowl/cheeks. If you can’t get hold of any, substitute it for pancetta. However if you can find it at a local deli, it’s worth it.
• If you can’t get a hold of Pecorino Romano, you can substitute it for parmigiano reggiano

FAQs about this Roman-style carbonara recipe

This is by far my most popular recipe, and I can’t wait for you to try it. If you do, please let me know how you get on – I love seeing what you’ve made! Please tag me on Instagram or Pinterest 🙂 and if you like this recipe, why not try my creamy saffron and sausage pasta, vodka sauce or check out this crunchy green salad for a wonderful side option!

The Best Roman Style Carbonara

5 from 2 votes

A traditional recipe for the best Roman style carbonara. Using only a handful of ingredients – eggs, guanciale, black pepper and pecorino Romano, this recipe will teach you how to make creamy, perfectly emulsified carbonara the proper way.

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Prep Time:10 minutes mins

Cook Time:30 minutes mins

Course: Main Course

Cuisine: Italian

Servings: 2 people

Ingredients

• 300 g spaghettoni pasta – spaghetti, bucatini or rigatoni will also work. If using rigatoni I suggest 100g per person (200g total)
• 100 g guanciale
• 2 whole eggs
• 3 egg yolks – this equates to 1 whole and 1 yolk pp, plus one for the pot for extra creamy goodness
• 150 g Pecorino Romano, very finely grated
• 1/2 tbsp freshly ground black peppercorns

US Customary – Metric

Instructions

• Cut the hard skin off the guanciale, slice it lengthways into 1cm strips and then cut into 1 cm pieces.
• Bring a large pot of salted water to boil for your pasta.
• Add the guanciale to a cold pan and start to sauté over a gentle heat – no need to add any oil as its fat will melt.
It’s important not to cook this quickly over high heat as it won’t render the fat properly – by starting off cold and cooking over a low heat the fat will release as it slowly crisps up.
• Meanwhile in a bowl add your eggs (whole and yolks) and beat well. Stir through the grated pecorino and a really decent amount of freshly cracked black pepper (depending on your tolerance and preference for pepper ~ measuring 1/2 tbsp). Set aside.
• When the guanciale is nice and crisp, turn off the heat and using a slotted spoon remove the guanciale from the pan and onto a plate – reserve the fat in the pan.
• Add the pasta to your boiling water and cook for approx a minute under packet instructions (just before it’s al dente).
• Add the pasta directly to the pan with the guanciale fat (reserving the pasta water) taking some of the pasta water with it. Turn the heat back on the lowest flame, and allow the pasta to continue to gently cook, giving it a toss in the guanciale fat.

THIS IS WHERE IT GETS INTERESTING! You will need to move relatively quickly.

• Add a 1/4-1/3 cup of the pasta water to the egg mixture and stir well until the pecorino and egg mix is nice and smooth and quite liquid, like pouring cream.
• Take the pan with the pasta/guanciale off the heat, pour in the egg mix and stir, toss and mix continuously until it starts to thicken slightly and you have a stable emulsion. At this point you can put the pan back onto a low heat/flame and keep stirring/moving constantly until you’ve worked the egg mixture into a beautiful crema, similar to béchamel. It’s important to keep the sauce moving constantly as you use the heat to thicken.
• Stir through the reserved guanciale before serving.
• Serve immediately!! With extra black pepper and a dusting of pecorino.

Notes

If your sauce thickens too much over heat, add a splash of pasta water to the pan to loosen the consistency. 

If your sauce is too thin, cooking it (while stirring constantly) over a low heat will help to thicken it back up.