Laur is a very diligent grocery shopper. She follows my list very precisely - even more so during quarantine - so I should have known that sending her out the door with an off the cuff "oh, and whatever vegetables look good" without putting it on the list would lead to disaster. The result was a lot of fruit and fun baking supplies, but very few ingredients to make into actual meals for lunch and dinner.
Fast forward to 1 pm on Monday, we were both in the middle of working and couldn't make a grocery store run. We still had some lardons in the fridge (French small cubes of bacon), so the solution became very clear very quickly: Quarantine Carbonara. Talk about lemonade out of lemons, right?
Spaghetti alla carbonara is a classic Roman dish. Back when I was in high school, my dad was feeling some sort of major nostalgia for our Roman family and proclaimed it "Rome Week". Each night we had a different traditional Roman dish: cacio e pepe, bucatini all'Amatriciana, pasta alla gricia, and, of course, spaghetti alla carbonara. But as it's gained more worldwide recognition, it has also been bastardized beyond recognition by very well-intentioned non-Romans.
I generally believe that there's no right way to eat, and you should cook the way you want - I'm not the food police. But I draw the line at cream in carbonara.
That being said, it's actually quite an easy meal to have in your back pocket as it's so quick, has very few ingredients with a fairly long shelf life, and tastes a lot fancier than it is. The recipe I've written below includes the ideal ingredients, but as I said, it's adaptable to what you have on hand. I won't tell the Romans! (Unless you add cream–then you're on your own.)
Ingredients
This recipe makes a good amount for 2 people. For 4 servings, double pasta amount, add 1-2 more egg yolks depending on their size, and add a bit more cheese and ham (though not double).
2-3 egg yolks (depending on size)
75 g guanciale (or pancetta, or even bacon in a pinch) - chopped into small pieces
30 g pecorino romano - grated
20 g grana padano or parmigiano reggiano - grated (optional*)
125 g spaghetti
Salt & pepper
*You can use all pecorino or a mix of both (3:2 pec:parm ratio), but you should end up with about 1/2 cup of grated cheese total.
Steps
Before you start, be ready with all your ingredients - speed and timing are essential for successful carbonara!
Boil salted water for spaghetti in your widest pot.
Separate yolks from eggs and beat until smooth with a fork (you don't want to make it foamy). TIP: Always save your egg whites for an omelette the next morning!
Add pecorino and parmesan (if using), a bit of salt, and a liberal amount of pepper. Mix until it has a creamy texture. You can add a tablespoon of water if it seems too thick, but I prefer to add pasta water at the end rather than at this step.
When pasta water is boiling, add guanciale to a pan over low-medium heat (no oil necessary) until crispy. As it heats, it should release it's own liquid and then crisp. It should take 7-8 minutes to crisp, and I sometimes turn up the heat right at the end because I like my ham extra crispy.
Add the spaghetti and cook to 1-2 minutes under al dente (check at 7 minutes). It will continue to cook a bit after you drain it, so you want to take it off the heat before it gets to what we normally consider al dente. The timing here is important: aim to have the pasta and guanciale done right around the same time so you're ready to mix as soon as the pasta is done. TIP: Read the next step thoroughly while you're waiting for everything to cook so that you're ready to go without checking the recipe when the moment comes–speed is key!
Assemble: Once everything is cooked, reserve a cup of pasta water, turn off heat, and gently strain the spaghetti, keeping it a bit wetter than when you normally strain pasta. Pour it back into its pot and add guanciale and its grease from the pan. Quickly add your egg mixture, stirring as you add to avoid scrambling the egg. Add pasta water little by little if it's on the dry side, but take care to keep the texture creamy rather than runny. If at this point you have scrambled eggs on pasta instead of gorgeous carbonara, it's because you didn't listen to me and kept your stove heat on through this step. TURN. OFF. THE. HEAT. Trust me, scrambled carbonara is a much more devastating fate than salmonella. Don't say I didn't tell you so.
Serve immediately with a sprinkle of pepper and more cheese to your liking. (My liking is lots and lots of pepper and cheese, but I support your choices.) Buon appetito!
If you have extras, they won't reheat very well for the same reason I yelled at you in step 6: the eggs will scramble. I prefer to chop up any leftovers, mix them with a couple of fresh eggs, and sauté them into a frittata the next day. I grew up eating my grandma's leftover pasta frittatas for breakfast, and I think it works especially well for this particular dish.
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