The original Carbonara recipe!
Ingredients
- 200 gram good quality spaghetti
- 150 gram Guiancale
- 6 pcs egg yolks
- 1 dl cooking water from pasta
- 100 gram pecorino cheese
- freshly ground pepper
- salt to the boiling water
I love a carbonara and I often make it in a slightly "cheat version" with bacon and a splash of cream, but this is how a carbonara should be made and is based on Italian ingredients and a few good ingredients. I think this one is much better, but it also requires a bit more understanding of temperature. If it gets too hot when you add the eggs, you get scrambled eggs and you don't want that. You will get a delicious creamy sauce that is made from the cheese, egg yolks and the cooking water from the pasta. Here I will show you how.
Step 1
Here I use Guiancale, which is a cured pork leg. This has an incredibly good taste and plenty of fat on it. Cut this into cubes and place in a cold pan. Let the meat heat up on a medium heat so that all the fat melts and you get good crispy pieces of meat and the good fat in the pan. This takes some time so be patient.
Step 2
Boil a large pot of water. Add plenty of salt. When I make this dish, I buy good quality spaghetti. When you pay a little more for the spaghetti, you get better consistency and a rougher surface. This also means that the sauce adheres better to the pasta. Cook the pasta until it is slightly undercooked "al dente".
Step 3
Separate the yolks from the whites and place the yolks in a bowl. Grate pecorino cheese and add together with the eggs. I add a splash of water and stir this well.
Step 4
When the pasta is almost ready and is slightly undercooked, I add the pasta to the pan with the fried Guiancal. Mix well and add cooking water from the pasta so there is some moisture around the pasta. TURN OFF THE HEAT. Stir regularly and adjust with more pasta water when it evaporates. Soon you will add the egg yolks with the cheese and then it is important that the pasta is not too hot because then it will be scrambled eggs. When the pasta has cooled down a little, add the eggs and mix well. Stir well and adjust the thickness of the sauce with the cooking water from the pasta.
Step 5
Place on a plate and grind over plenty of pepper. Sprinkle some extra pecorino cheese on top and serve the dish straight away!
