Authentic Spaghetti Carbonara

Authentic Spaghetti Carbonara is a wonderfully simplistic Italian dish. With a short ingredient list it’s so easy to make, but definitely not short on rich flavor.

Ok, it might be a little bold of me to call this authentic spaghetti carbonara, but I have to say, it’s pretty darn close.  How do I know this? I based my recipe on carbonara recipes I found on two blogs that are both written by Italians, Silvia’s Cucina and Due Spaghetti.

What I found is that the key to authentic carbonara is simplicity. That’s it, plain and simple, with the result being an incredibly creamy and delicious pasta dish.

Once you’ve tasted spaghetti carbonara that’s been authentically prepared, you’re sure to fall in love. It’s essentially made up of four very basic ingredients, pasta, pancetta, eggs and cheese along with a generous amount of black pepper. I admit, I did go a little rogue and added some fresh parsley to give the dish a little brightness.

I usually resist ordering carbonara in a restaurant, because they often add all kinds of things, like cream, garlic, onions or even peas. Believe me, it doesn’t need any of that, it is amazingly delicious in its glorious simplicity.

The only slightly tricky part to this recipe is making sure you don’t scramble the eggs when you toss them with the hot pasta. The key is to mix the eggs and the cheese together, remove the pan from the heat and toss it all together very quickly. It’s not enough to just turn off the heat, the burner will keep the pan too hot and you will risk scrambling the eggs.

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Yield: 6 servings

Authentic Spaghetti Carbonara

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Authentic Spaghetti Carbonara is a wonderfully simplistic Italian dish. With a short ingredient list it’s so easy to make, but definitely not short on rich flavor.

Prep Time 10 minutes

Cook Time 10 minutes

Total Time 20 minutes

Ingredients

• 1 lb pasta, cooked according to package instructions, reserving 1 cup of the pasta water
• 2 tsp olive oil
• 4 oz diced pancetta
• 4 whole eggs
• 7 oz grated parmigiano reggiano, plus more for serving
• 1/4 tsp salt
• 1 tsp black pepper
• 1/4 cup parsley, finely chopped

Instructions

1. While pasta cooks, crack eggs into a medium bowl and whisk until combined.
2. Whisk in parmigiano reggiano, salt and pepper. Set aside.
3. Heat olive oil in a large skillet over medium heat.
4. Add pancetta and cooked until browned, about 5 minutes.
5. Turn heat off and leave pancetta in pan.
6. Drain pasta once it's cooked, reserving 1 cup of pasta water.
7. Remove skillet from the stove and add pasta to the skillet, tossing to mix with the pancetta and coat with the oil.
8. Quickly add egg mixture to the pasta mixture.
9. Toss quickly and vigorously to coat pasta and cook the eggs.
10. If pasta seems dry, add a little bit of the reserved pasta water, until sauce is creamy, but not watery.
11. Sprinkle with parsley and serve immediately

Notes

The need for adding pasta water to the sauce varies from time to time. My sauce did not require any additional liquid this time.

Nutrition Information:

Yield:

6

Serving Size:

1
Amount Per Serving: Calories: 451Total Fat: 25gSaturated Fat: 10gTrans Fat: 0gUnsaturated Fat: 12gCholesterol: 166mgSodium: 751mgCarbohydrates: 35gFiber: 2gSugar: 1gProtein: 21g

ENJOY!