Carbonara
From Elegant Supper to Perfect Hangover Cure
A Roman staple, pasta with carbonara sauce is a fundamentally simple and easy dish, made by coating pasta in a rich, creamy sauce of eggs, cheese, pork, and black pepper. Unfortunately, disappointing carbonaras abound, usually because a chef tries to add other ingredients rather than master technique. Oil, cream, butter, onion, or garlic are anathema to carbonara purists. Luckily, chef Mattia Bazzurri at Rome’s Santo Palato knows how to coax intense flavor from simple, local ingredients.
We are not the chef that Mattia is, and as we tested carbonara recipes at home, the key challenge we continually encountered was the method to cook our the sauce: we needed enough heat to thicken the eggs into perfectly silky texture without accidentally scrambling them in the process.
Our solution: Place a large mixing bowl over the boiling pasta water to create a makeshift double boiler
During testing, we also realized that guanciale — pork jowl — is key to a great carbonara. Although many recipes call for pancetta or even bacon, guanciale tends to have the highest ratio of fat to lean meat, which means that it renders the most liquid fat as it cooks, creating a more unctuous sauce. It’s also often cured with a more generous amount of warm spices rubbed onto its surface, which come through in the dish.
THE RECIPE:
- Kosher salt
- 1 pound (450g) dried spaghetti
- 1/2 cup diced guanciale
- 2 whole large eggs plus 6 yolks
- 1/4 cup grated Pecorino Romano
- 1/4 cup grated Parmigiano Reggiano
- 1 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
Bring a pot of salted water to a boil. Add pasta and cook, stirring, until al dente. Meanwhile, cook guanciale in a large skillet, stirring frequently, over medium heat, until fat has rendered and guanciale is crisp, about 7 minutes.
In a large metal heat proof mixing bowl, whisk together whole eggs and yolks, Pecorino Romano, Parmigiano Reggiano, and black pepper. Using tongs and/or a strainer, transfer pasta to skillet with crisped guanciale and its fat; be sure not to drain boiling pasta water.
Scrape pasta, pork, and all the fat into the egg mixture. Measure 1/2 cup pasta-cooking water and add to pasta and egg mixture. Stir well to combine. Set mixing bowl over pot of boiling pasta water (make sure bottom of bowl does not touch the water) and cook, stirring quickly with tongs, until sauce thickens to a creamy, silky consistency and leaves trails as you stir.
Remove from heat, season with salt if needed, and divide into bowls. Serve right away, topping with more grated cheese and freshly ground pepper as desired.
