Pasta alla Carbonara

Last week, I posted about making your own pancetta at home. Yes, that recipe may take a month and several obscure ingredients, but this recipe makes it worthwhile. (Yes, I know; they sell pancetta at the grocery store. But then you don’t get to brag about home-curing meats.)

It’s established as an Italian classic in most people’s mind, but pasta alla carbonara is actually a modern invention: It didn’t appear until after World War II. It’s a simple concept—eggs, cheese, pancetta, and lots of pepper make a thick, rich, creamy sauce—but it can be a bit finicky in the execution. Carbonara is not supposed to be pasta with scrambled eggs.

The key is adding some of the hot pasta-cooking water to the egg mixture. This thins it out enough that it’ll start to thicken slowly and you can take it off the heat before it cooks completely. (The starch in the water also helps thicken the sauce.)

Spaghetti is the most common pasta used for alla carbonara, but really any kind will work. I didn’t use it in the batch I photographed for this post, but I like using a short pasta like farfalle. All those nooks and crannies hold on to more of the delicious sauce.

A note on the pork products: Guanciale, pork cheek cured in pretty much the same way as pancetta, is the most traditional meat for carbonara, but it’s much harder to find than pancetta and pretty much tastes identical. In a pinch you can use bacon, but its smoky flavor can overpower the eggy sauce in a way pancetta’s sweeter herbalness doesn’t.

One more thing: If your carbonara recipe calls for milk or cream, your carbonara recipe is wrong.

Pasta alla Carbonara
Serves 2

2 oz. pancetta, cut into small dice
2 eggs
1/4 cup Parmesan or pecorino Romano cheese, plus more as desired
1 tsp. freshly ground pepper
1/4 tsp. salt
4 oz. pasta
1/4 cup minced parsley (optional)

Cook pancetta in a small saute pan over medium-low heat until browned and crisp. Remove from heat and let cool for 5 minutes or so.

Meanwhile, bring 2 to 3 quarts of generously salted water to a boil in a large pot over high heat.

While water is heating, beat together eggs, 1/4 cup cheese, pepper, salt, and cooked pancetta (along with the fat that rendered out during cooking). Add pasta to the boiling water and cook until al dente (or as desired). Drain, reserving 1/2 cup of the pasta cooking water. Stir the water into the egg mixture.

Place the drained pasta back into the hot pot and add the egg mixture. Stir until sauce thickens, and remove from heat before eggs curdle completely. (If you have an electric stove, the residual heat of the burner and in the pot should be enough to thicken the sauce; if not, you may have to turn the burner to low. Just make sure you stir constantly.)

Garnish with parsley and more cheese to taste and serve.