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.
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
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 fry this off 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.
