The LEGENDARY authentic Spaghetti Carbonara recipe just got better! Learn how to make Spaghetti Carbonara as they do in the best Italian restaurants in Rome, Italy. However in this extra creamy Spaghetti Carbonara recipe, we show how to pasteurize the eggs at home.
1 metal bowl that sits inside the top of another pot for creating a double broiler
1 pot for cooking the pasta and creating the bottom of the double broiler
Ingredients
1tbspblack pepperpreferably toasted and freshly ground
7ozguanciale
3.5ozpecorino romano cheesevery finely ground
4largeegg yolks
14ozspaghetti
Instructions
Prepare the Ingredients
Finely grate the Pecorino Romano cheese if needed. Separate the eggs and put just the egg yolks in a metal bowl for later.
Toast and Grind the Pepper
Toast whole black peppercorns in a dry pan over medium-low heat until fragrant. Then grind the pepper using a mill or mortar and pestle.
1 tbsp black pepper
... Or, crush the black pepper to a medium-coarse grind first, then toast in a dry pan over low heat until fragrant.
Cook the Pasta ¾ to Al Dente
Add the spaghetti to lightly salted, boiling water and begin cooking it to ¾ of the cook time recommended for al dente on the package instructions. We will finish cooking the pasta in the pan with the guanciale fat and pepper.In the meantime...
14 oz spaghetti
Fry the Guanciale
Cut the guanciale into strips, or thick slices. Thick slices cook more quickly and evenly, but you'll then need to cut them into smaller strips and pass them back in the pan to finish browning.
7 oz guanciale
Guanciale takes about 3 minutes to cook over medium heat in a large skillet or pan.
When the guanciale is browned (crispy on the outside, juicy inside), set the pieces aside in a bowl and leave the grease in the pan.
Cook the Egg Sauce
Drizzle half a ladle of hot pasta water into the egg yolks and whisk well. Create a double broiler by using the hot, simmering pasta water as an indirect heating element for your metal bowl with the egg yolks. Place the metal bowl over the simmering water.
4 large egg yolks
Whisking continuously and using a kitchen thermometer to control the temperature, bring the eggs to 160° - 165° F and hold it at that temperature for about 3 minutes.If needed, lift the bowl to drop the heat quickly and keep the egg temperature below 170° F—the eggs will begin to coagulate at that temperature and we don't want that.
Add the Pecorino to the Egg Sauce
Add the finely grated pecorino cheese to the cooked egg sauce, whisking thoroughly to create a smooth sauce.
3.5 oz pecorino romano cheese
At this point, you can pass the carbonara sauce through a colander to remove any egg that might have coagulated. This creates the smoothest carbonara sauce, but it is optional.
Add half of the black pepper to the carbonara sauce and...
Finish Cooking the Spaghetti in the Pan
...Add a ladle or two of hot pasta water to the skillet with the guanciale grease, along with the rest of the black pepper.
Transfer the strained pasta ( ¾ cooked) to the skillet. Finish cooking the pasta in the pepper water until it is al dente.
Finish the Spaghetti Carbonara with Sauce
Once cooked, remove the pasta skillet from the heat. Add the guanciale and carbonara sauce (cheese and egg) and mix thoroughly (and quickly) off the heat.
Remember the egg sauce is already cooked. You just need to mix it with the hot pasta... top with more pecorino cheese and serve!
Video
Notes
Prepare the Sauce the Day Before!Because we are pre-cooking the carbonara sauce over a double broiler (bagnomaria in Italian), you could also do this step the day before. What does 'al dente' mean?It means 'to the teeth' in Italian—essentially that the pasta has a little bit of a bite still and is not totally soft and mushy. This is the way that pasta is always served in Italy.