Spaghetti Carbonara

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This recipe is the traditional method for making carbonara. This simple bacon and eggs dish is a lovely marriage between American ingredients (bacon) and a classic Roman method. With just a handful of ingredients, it's important to make sure they are quality. This is a slightly more difficult recipe to make than our other version on the blog. You really need to take your time so you don’t scramble the eggs, but the process is so worth it. A silky, delicious sauce is made. There is a creamier version of this dish on our website too.

Tips:

• Interchange pancetta and bacon or even pork jowl in this recipe.

• This sauce is meant to cook in the time it takes you to make the pasta. It’s important that you add the spaghetti to the eggs while the pasta is very hot so that you can cook the eggs.

• If you don’t want to use wine, add some low sodium chicken stock.

Spaghetti Carbonara

Serves 4-6

PREP 10 minutes

COOK 10 minutes

INGREDIENTS

1/2 lb. pancetta or bacon, diced into 1/4” pieces

4 garlic gloves, peeled and just smashed with the side of your knife

3 tablespoon olive oil

1/4 cup dry white wine

2 large eggs

1/2 cup grated parmesan cheese or a combination of parmesan and romano

Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper

2 tablespoons parsley, chopped

1 lb. spaghetti, dried or fresh

INSTRUCTIONS

1. Start to boil the water for your pasta. Once boiling, salt your water heavily and cook your spaghetti 4 minutes shy of al dente. You will cook pasta in the pan, so it needs to be still firm. Reserve 2 cups of pasta water and strain the spaghetti.

2. Meanwhile, in a large sauté pan, over medium heat add the olive oil and garlic. Sauté the garlic until fragrant and golden brown. Discard the garlic.

3. Add the bacon to the sauté pan and cook until the bacon is golden brown along the edges. Using a slotted spoon, remove the bacon to a plate.

4. Add the wine and cook for 1-2 minutes until the wine reduces. Turn off the heat.

5. In a bowl, crack your eggs. Whisk until smooth then add your grated cheese, parsley and some pepper.

6. Add the hot, cooked spaghetti to the sauté pan and turn the heat on high. Add 2 cups of pasta water and stir the pan until you start to get a silky sauce. After a minute take about 1/2 cup of the water from the pan and add it to the egg mixture slowly, whisking. This is to warm the eggs and prevent them from scrambling.

7. Lower the heat on the sauté pan to just a simmer. Add the egg mixture slowly to the spaghetti tossing the pasta continually for about 4 minutes until the pasta is cooked. Do not rush this step! You should slowly heat the eggs to make a sauce not scrambled eggs. Add more pasta water if you think the sauce is too dry.

8. Add the pancetta and toss the pasta again.

9. Serve with additional parmesan cheese, parsley and some black pepper. Enjoy!