You'll Love Our Foolproof Recipe for Spaghetti Carbonara (2024)

FAQs

What is the golden rule of cooking a carbonara? ›

Whisk Like You Mean It

You're using more egg yolks than whites here, which is what makes carbonara so rich and luxurious. But there's still two eggs-worth of whites in there. Whisking your eggs so that the whites are completely incorporated into the yolks will give your sauce a more uniform texture.

“The tips for the perfect carbonara are essentially: dried spaghetti not fresh; guanciale not pancetta; and a mixture of parmesan and pecorino.

What not to put in Spaghetti Carbonara? Don't put garlic, cream, milk or butter. It is not needed. It is fine if you want to make a dish with those ingredients, but if you want to learn how to make this dish correctly, use only pecorino, eggs/egg yolks, black pepper, guanciale, and pasta water.

And indeed, there's plenty of recipes that cheat by adding in cream. But today, we're making spaghetti carbonara properly, the authentic, traditional way. No cream. Just egg, cheese and a splash of starchy pasta cooking water.

What distinguishes carbonara from other pasta dishes is its technique of combining eggs, hard cheese, cured pork, and black pepper into a rich, silky sauce. This recipe calls for raw eggs that are gently cooked by the hot sauce. If you prefer, you can use pasteurized eggs instead.

Why is there no garlic in carbonara? Because it's an Italian dish, not an Italian-American dish, and Italian cooking does not use garlic as heavily as Italian-American cuisine. You can either make a carbonara, or the same dish with added garlic (just don't call *that* carbonara, it's not).

Pecorino Romano: This aged sheep's cheese is always traditionally used in the Roman pastas, and its salty, grassy, earthy flavor is absolutely delicious in carbonara. That said, if Pecorino is unavailable at your local grocery store, you can use Parmesan as a non-traditional substitute.

As the fat renders, he removes some of the molten liquid with a spoon. The lean part of the meat ultimately caramelises and becomes a sort of "popcorn guanciale": crunchy outside and tender inside. His carbonara is very yellow in colour since he only uses egg yolks – one per 60g of pasta.

A mixture of Pecorino and Parmigiano Reggiano, and a few drops of extravirgin olive oil to help rebdring the guanciale are allowed. Why don't traditional pastas use cream? The reason is that cream isn't used in Italian pasta dishes is that it can be overpowering.

Beyond taste, the eggs play a major role in the formation of the silky sauce. The whites of the egg combine with the starch in the pasta water to add viscosity to the sauce while the yolk adds richness and flavor.

Why not bacon in carbonara? ›

If you want your carbonara to be as authentic as possible, you should be using guanciale, not bacon or pancetta. Guanciale is cured pork cheek. It looks a little like bacon, but isn't smoked, so its flavor leans more towards pancetta. Rich, unctuous and packed with umami, guanciale is what real carbonara is made from.

Some people may find the texture too heavy or slimy. Dietary restrictions: Carbonara is not a dish that can be easily modified to accommodate certain dietary restrictions. For example, it contains eggs, dairy, and often meat, making it unsuitable for vegans or those with lactose intolerance or egg allergies.

Traditional carbonara sauce is made with whole eggs, not just the yolks. However, some recipes do call for just yolks. In the traditional recipe, the eggs are beaten together with grated Pecorino Romano cheese, black pepper, and sometimes a bit of Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese.

Should carbonara have cream? Typically carbonara sauce is only made of eggs, bacon, parmesan, olive oil, seasoning, and sometimes, vegetables. As for cream, Italians will tell you that is a big no no.

Using a large mixing bowl and setting it over the boiling pasta water to create a makeshift double boiler helps prevent you from accidentally scrambling the eggs.