Spaghetti carbonara is one of the best known Italian recipes around the World. Authentic spaghetti carbonara does not contain milk or cream, yet outside Italy you often get it served with a thick, creamy sauce. Egg yolks and flavorful Pecorino cheese melt together in the authentic version thanks to the heat of the pasta, forming a rich, creamy sauce.
Try this authentic spaghetti carbonara recipe for yourself, and see how real Italian dishes are different!
Authentic Spaghetti Carbonara Recipe
Authentic spaghetti carbonara contains raw eggs. Make this dish only at your own risk, and be sure to use only fresh eggs from a reliable source!
- Cut Guanciale (or bacon) into 1/2 inch (1 cm) pieces.
- Put your Guanciale in a saucepan, and start browning it on low heat.
- Boiling water in a large pot. When it’s boiling, add salt and spaghetti. Cook it al dente (Usually 7-8 minutes). Pay attention to how much salt you use, Guanciale or bacon might be very salty.
- In the meantime, make the “sauce” for your authentic spaghetti carbonara. Put 4 yolks and one whole egg in a large bowl.
- Add grated Pecorino cheese (or Parmigiano Reggiano), and salt and pepper to taste (again, be careful with the salt).
- Mix the egg and Pecorino with a whisk.
- When the guanciale is crisp and brown, put it in a plate and let it cool.
- Once the guanciale reached room temperature, add it to the egg-Pecorino mix and stir. You don’t want to make this while the Guanciale is still hot, as you’re not making scrambled eggs.
- Once the pasta is cooked al dente, you have to work fast. The sauce of authentic spaghetti carbonara is basically eggs and Pecorino cheese forming a rich, creamy sauce by the heat of the spaghetti. Be it too cold, you won’t get a real sauce. Be it too hot, you get spaghetti with scrambled eggs. Drain the spaghetti, wait for a few seconds, and toss it in the egg-Pecorino mix.
- Your authentic spaghetti carbonara is ready. Serve hot.
Special Ingredients
There are two ingredients in the authetic spaghetti carbonara, that may be difficult to get hold of where you live.
- Pecorino cheese is a hard Italian cheese, made of ewe’s milk. You can find it in some specialty stores, order it online from Amazon or substitute with Parmesan cheese.
- Guanciale is a type of Italian cured meat product prepared from pork jowl or cheeks. Its name is derived from guancia, Italian for cheek. Again, find it in speciality stores or order it from Amazon. As for any substitution, use smoked bacon.
How To Serve Authentic Spaghetti Carbonara
Following this recipe, you can make perfect, flavorful and authentic spaghetti carbonara at home, ready in 25 minutes. Flavors of the salty and smoky guanciale and the premium Pecorino cheese melt together to form a rich, creamy sauce on the pasta. Sprinkle with grated Pecorino cheese and serve it warm.
Spaghetti carbonara is a high calorie-content comfort food, best served in cold, rainy days.
Serves 4 as entrée, or 2-3 as main course.
Original name: Spaghetti alla Carbonara
Authentic Spaghetti Carbonara
Ingredients
- 7 oz. (200 g) Guanciale (or bacon)
- 3.5 oz (100 g) Pecorino cheese (or Parmesan)
- 4 egg yolks
- 1 whole egg
- 12 oz. (350 g) spaghetti
- Pepper
- Salt
Instructions
- Cut Guanciale (or bacon) into 1/2 inch (1 cm) pieces.
- Put your Guanciale in a saucepan, and start browning it on low heat.
- Boiling water in a large pot. When it’s boiling, add salt and spaghetti. Cook it al dente (Usually 7-8 minutes). Pay attention to how much salt you use, Guanciale or bacon might be very salty.
- In the meantime, make the “sauce” for your authentic spaghetti carbonara. Put 4 yolks and one whole egg in a large bowl.
- Add grated Pecorino cheese (or Parmigiano Reggiano), and salt and pepper to taste (again, be careful with the salt).
- Mix the egg and Pecorino with a whisk.
- When the guanciale is crisp and brown, put it in a plate and let it cool.
- Once the guanciale reached room temperature, add it to the egg-Pecorino mix and stir. You don’t want to make this while the Guanciale is still hot, as you’re not making scrambled eggs.
- Once the pasta is cooked al dente, you have to work fast. The sauce of authentic spaghetti carbonara is basically eggs and Pecorino cheese forming a rich, creamy sauce by the heat of the spaghetti. Be it too cold, you won’t get a real sauce. Be it too hot, you get spaghetti with scrambled eggs. Drain the spaghetti, wait for a few seconds, and toss it in the egg-Pecorino mix.
- Your authentic spaghetti carbonara is ready. Serve hot.
I live in Italy and spaghetti crbronaaa is one of my favorite restaurant dishes. There are many variations of this recipe but your version seems to be essentially identical to those claiming to be classico italiano . All agree it’s Roman; some say it’s ancient but most say it’s from WWII. Nearly all call for long pasta, guanciale, and Pecorino while prohibiting the use of cream. A few prohibit Parmigiano-Reggiano, but many use a 50/50 mixture as you did. A few versions use short pasta and/or include garlic or Basel, or hot peppers. Some serve the intact egg yolk on top so that the diner can combine it with the pasta, but that strikes me as a bit risky especially if the yoke is served in the half-shell or if the pasta cools off too much. Most Italian recipes I’ve found use cheese which is more finely grated than you show in the video and that might help to make a more creamy sauce. Usually the quantity of guanciale is a little more generous, it’s normally cut into 1/4 inch cubes, and cooked until crispy. Most also use finely ground pepper rather than course ground you showed, but these are tiny variations in the overall scheme of things and I think you’ve done everyone a big favor with your very authentic recipe.Interestingly, a few Italian crbronaaa recipes don’t include any back pepper at all. Last week I had some taglierini (thin tagliatelle) crbronaaa served in Piemonte (well north of Rome) without any detectable pepper. Some years ago spaghetti crbronaaa was served to me in Rome and after plating the pasta, it was completely covered with a very generous coating of finely ground black pepper nearly obscuring the pasta itself. It really lived up to the name. Both extreme variations were delicious.
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