Spaghetti alla Carbonara

 

                                     

Carbonara…….so creamy, so yummy. This was definitely my go to dinner while in Italy! 

(This recipe definitely contains egg and Parmesan cheese which are the two main ingredients )

And really so simple to make. The only thing you need to worry about is curdling your eggs. But if you follow these procedures it will definitely be a success.

This recipe is for two people. 

I used spaghettini but you can certainly use spaghetti.

You will need:

Pot of boiling water- get it started early as this recipe is quick!

3 tbsps olive oil 

1 clove garlic, whole and smashed

120 - 140 grams cubed pancetta 

2 whole eggs

2 handfuls of grated Parmesan cheese

Spaghettini for 3. About a handful.

A cup full of pasta water. You probably won’t need it all but I’d rather have more than not enough.

Boil your water in a large pot. Lightly salt water.

In a small dish or bowl, mix the 2 eggs with Parmesan cheese. Stir together and set aside.

No salt needed! The Parmesan cheese and pancetta are salty enough.

Over medium heat, drizzle the olive oil into frying pan . Add your whole and smashed garlic clove and pancetta. Fry for about five minutes. The fat will begin to render and the garlic will begin to infuse its flavour into the fat. Do not overcook the pancetta. You still want it to be tender and not little dried up crunchy cubes. It’s ready when the fat has rendered but pancetta still chewy. At this point you can remove the garlic clove and discard ( or eat it!)

While the pancetta is cooking, add the pasta to the lightly salted water and cook until al dente. The spaghettini will continue to cook when you add the pasta water and egg/ cheese mixture.

If your pasta is not ready to add to your pancetta at this point, turn off heat and set aside. You will turn it back on once your pasta is cooked. I actually cook my pancetta ahead of time and set aside. It just makes things a little easier.

Once pasta is al dente, scoop out a cup of pasta pasta and set aside. Remove your spaghettini from pot with tongs (some pasta water will naturally go into…that’s good) and add to your pancetta, which is sitting on medium heat stove burner.

As you add your spaghettini with tongs to pancetta, some pasta water is also going in. Stir the pasta along with pancetta fat and pasta water.  The pasta water will thicken as it cooks on stovetop. This will only take a short time, less than a minute. If you need more pasta water, you can add it. If you feel you added too much water, it will evaporate while cooking longer.

Remove the frying pan from heat. This is the part where you need to be careful to not curdle your eggs!

Let pancetta pan sit off the burner for half a minute so it’s not still boiling when you add your eggs.

Gradually stir in your egg \ cheese mixture. Drizzle it in while continually stirring. Stir until you’ve mixed it well and the pasta is glossy.

Serve immediately as it dries up if it sits too long.

Easy, quick and delicious!!