Spaghetti Carbonara

Spaghetti carbonara is a super quick and easy pasta dish that’s perfect for weeknight meals or special occasions. Ellis Barrie shows you how to make a silky, rich carbonara in 10 minutes with just a handful of ingredients.

Each serving provides 735 kcal, 44.1g protein, 58.3g carbohydrate (of which 1.7g sugars), 35.4g fat (of which 15.2g saturates), 0g fibre and 2.31g salt.

By Ellis Barrie

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Recipe Tips

Traditional Carbonara Ingredients

Traditional carbonara calls for guanciale, which is Italian cured pork cheek. It’s usually sold in one piece ready to be cut at home. You’ll find it in good delis and specialist butcher shops. Pancetta makes a good alternative and can be bought ready diced in many supermarkets. Bacon lardons are similar and more widely available. You can also chop bacon rashers into thin strips for an easy store-cupboard style supper.

Cooking the Pancetta Properly

Ensure your frying pan is large enough to hold the pasta once it’s cooked and don’t burn the pancetta; you want the fat to be golden and to have released lots of flavour without browning too much which could spoilt the look and taste of the sauce.

Avoid Scrambling the Eggs

The steaming hot spaghetti will cook the carbonara sauce as you mix it together in the frying pan, so take care not to overcook it at this stage as the eggs will scramble and the texture of the sauce won’t be quite as smooth. You’ll know if your sauce is overcooking if you see it becoming grainy as the eggs heat. If this happens, remove from the heat immediately and quickly add another splash of the pasta cooking liquid, or transfer to a large bowl, and continue tossing. You could also try adding a little double or single cream if you have some handy to loosen the sauce. And don’t panic, a good grating of Parmesan and a few twists of ground black pepper will help disguise most mistakes.

Whole Eggs vs Egg Yolks

Some recipes call for egg yolks only, but using whole eggs makes the sauce less likely to fail. Make sure you beat them well, so the yolks and whites are well combined. It helps to use room temperature eggs, if they are fridge cold it’s harder for the hot pasta to cook them through when making the sauce.

Serve Immediately

Make sure you cook the carbonara just before you serve it and don’t forget to warm your plates or bowls as it will cool quickly. It’s best made in smaller quantities to give you the best control over the ingredients – you are aiming to make a silky, smooth emulsified sauce that coats every strand of pasta.

Cheese Alternatives

Pecorino is a good alternative to Parmesan and is used in a classic spaghetti carbonara. Grana Padano is a more budget conscious choice.

Choosing the Right Pasta

Pick a good quality spaghetti if you can. Ideally one that’s been made using bronze dies to extrude the pasta. This gives a rougher surface to each strand which means it will hold sauce better. You can use tagliatelle or linguine instead of spaghetti if you like. And fresh pasta can be used in place of the dried if you prefer.

Don’t Forget the Pasta Water

Don’t forget that for a carbonara, you also want to use the pasta cooking liquid to help make the sauce extra silky, so make sure to reserve it when you drain the pasta. If you do forget, use some freshly boiled water from a kettle instead.

Use Tongs for Mixing

Use kitchen tongs to toss the pasta with the sauce rather than a spoon, as it’s easier to mix everything together.

Reheating Leftovers

Spaghetti carbonara doesn’t reheat well, but if you do have some leftover, you could warm-up on in a microwave oven on a medium setting for a couple of minutes. The texture won’t be quite the same, but it will still taste delicious.

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Ingredients

• ½ tbsp olive oil
• 75g/2½ oz pancetta, chopped
• 200g/7oz dried spaghetti
• 2 large free-range eggs, at room temperature
• 100g/3½oz Parmesan, grated, plus extra for serving
• 1 tbsp full-fat milk (optional)
• salt and freshly ground pepper

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Method

Step 1

Heat the oil in a frying pan over a medium heat. Add the pancetta and cook until crisp, slightly browned and the fat has rendered off. Remove the pan from the heat and set aside.

Step 2

Bring a large saucepan of salted water to the boil. Add the spaghetti and cook for 8–10 minutes, until firm but slightly chewy (al dente).

Step 3

While the spaghetti is cooking, beat together the eggs and Parmesan with a fork. If it’s a little thick, add a little milk. Season with a little salt (the cheese and pancetta are already salty) and a generous amount of pepper.

Step 4

Once the spaghetti is cooked, drain over a bowl, reserving some of the cooking water.

Step 5

Place the frying pan with the pancetta in back over a medium–low heat. Add the drained spaghetti and egg mixture and immediately stir thoroughly so all the spaghetti is coated in the sauce. Add 1–2 tablespoons of the reserved pasta water to loosen, if necessary.

Step 6

Serve immediately on hot plates with grated Parmesan on top.