Culinary/Recipes/Carbonara

A popular Italian pasta with obscure origins.

This recipe is for one serving.

Ingredients

For the Pasta:

• 80g (2.8 oz) spaghetti or your preferred pasta
• Salt for boiling water

For the Sauce:

• 25g (0.9 oz) Grana Padano or Parmesan cheese, freshly and finely grated
• 10g (0.35 oz) Pecorino Romano, freshly and finely grated
• 1 egg yolk
• 50g (1.8 oz) guanciale, cubed to 0.5cm
• 1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper (adjust to taste)
• Reserved pasta cooking water

Method

• Mix egg yolk with the grated cheeses

• Add cubed guanciale to a cold pan and heat medium-low and render out the fat, until the guanciale is slightly crispy.

• Separate fat and guanciale and let cool for a minute.

• Add some of the fat to the eggs and cheese and mix.

• Bring a pot of salted water to a boil - the water should taste salty. Add the pasta and cook according to the package instructions or until it's al dente.

• While the pasta is cooking, in a small saucepan toast the freshly ground pepper gently until fragrant, then add a ladle of cooking water to simmer.

• Also add a small amount of water to the cheese mix to temper the eggs.

• When the pasta is al dente, scoop out the pasta from the cooking water and into the pan.

• Add guanciale back into the pan.

• Remove the pan from the heat and add the cheese mixture. Stir quickly to combine. If the sauce is too thick, add a little of the reserved pasta cooking water to reach your desired consistency. If it is too thin apply heat gently to reduce the consistency, but be careful not to split the emulsion. The sauce should be creamy and glossy. The heat from the pasta will melt the cheese and create a creamy, cheesy coating.

• Serve immediately, garnished with an extra grating of Pecorino Romano and a bit more freshly ground black pepper if desired.