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Joy Turner

"The pure Joy of Food and Beverage"

Joy Turner
Food Recipes 

Spaghetti Pasta alla Carbonara

Ceca

spaghetti pasta alla carbonaraSpaghetti alla Carbonara is a wonderful, indulgent and luscious dish. What’s more, it’s quite easy and quick to prepare and you probably already have all the ingredients you need. Here’s one of the best recipes for this well-known Italian dish. 

Ingredients:

  • 400 g dry spaghetti (or any long pasta you like)
  • 2tbs olive oil
  • 100 g pancetta (or slab bacon) – sliced into small strips or cubed
  • 3 finely chopped garlic cloves (this is not really traditional, but I think it’s better with garlic!)
  • 2-3 eggs
  • 1 cup freshly grated Parmesan (you can use Pecorino cheese, as well) for the sauce and more for serving
  • black pepper and salt to taste
  • 1 handful of chopped fresh parsley

Directions:

Pasta alla Carbonara sauce should be prepared while the pasta is cooking, in order to ensure that pasta (usually spaghetti) will be ready and hot once the sauce is finished. It’s the heat of the pasta that actually cooks the raw eggs in this recipe, so make sure your spaghetti is hot enough when you add the egg mixture.

So, cook the spaghetti like you usually do. Frankly, I always read the instructions on the box and I have never made a mistake. Your pasta should be “al dente”, tender yet firm. If you wish, you may use the starchy cooking water (left after draining pasta) for the sauce. Meanwhile, over medium flame, heat the olive oil in a deep skillet. Add the pancetta (or slab bacon) and saute it until the fat is rendered and the bacon is crisp (about 3 minutes). Then, toss the garlic and saute for about 30 seconds.

Drained, hot spaghetti should be added to the pan and tossed for several minutes to coat the strands in the fat. In a mixing bowl, beat the eggs and Parmesan together, stir well to prevent lumps. After removing the pan from the heat, pour the eggs/Parmesan mixture into the pasta, whisk everything quickly until the eggs thicken, but make sure you don’t scramble (for that reason, pan should be removed from the heat in this step). Use reserved pasta water to thin the sauce out. Carbonara should be seasoned with freshly ground pepper and salt. Garnish your meal with chopped parsley and pass more Parmesan around the table. Buon Apetite!