Spaghetti Alla Carbonara


Photo: flickr user Shoshanah
Print this recipe

Ingredients

2 tablespoons butter (Olive Oil)
1/4 pound pancetta, cubed (Guanciale)
1 pound minced parsley (?)
1/4 cup dry white wine (?)
6 yolks eggs
1/2 cup freshly grated Parmesan cheese (pecorino)
1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
1 pound spaghetti, cooked and drained
1 white onion, diced or brunoise (?)

Preparation

1
In the saute pan let the Pancetta crisp on its own juices and fat, when it is really nice & crispy (Discard the fat) add the butter and the onions that will cook in this very same butterfat. Have ready the yolks in one bowl, the parsley very finely chopped in another bowl, the cheese in another & the ground black pepper ready. No salt is necessary for this dish as the Pancetta has it, the Parmigiano cheese has it, and the water you will use from the pasta to emulsion the sauce has it too. Once the butter has melted add water from the pasta and let reduce into an emulsion (Fat & water binding by physical energy). At this po
2
Stir, mixing the juices with the pasta. Be careful, as you may loose some liquid as the binding and absorbing effects of the starch contained on the pasta will act immediately, drying your sauce. For this you have the water from the pasta to refresh the sauce and make it slightly runnier. That's when you add the eggs, (mix thoroughly), then the cheese to absorb the remaining liquid excess and parsley to add freshness as the sauce is heavy.
3
Proceed to plate immediately so the eggs do not become an Omelet and garnish with a fresh leaf of parsley and grind abundant pepper on top to add the Carbon effect as you will read in the History Facts below. The pepper will add an aromatic and flavor effect.

Tools

.

Comments

Euclydes Antonio dos Santos Filho's picture
Euclydes Antoni...
January 10, 2010

This is the real thing. Just like the one I had in Italy.

About

Tips:

The first thing, is to have the pasta already cooking as timing at the end of this dish is crucial for success and the right emulsion binding effect as well as texture. The water for the pasta must have salt and no oil, (Pasta never sticks when supervised), and to put oil in any pasta water is wrong and not Italian.

History Facts:
[please check: http://it.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pasta_alla_carbonara]

The real legend claims that Carbonara, a derivative of the word carbon in Italian, was made for charcoal workers. Who really knew how eggs and butter could become a nice emulsion cream and adding bacon became transformed into a distinctively Roman pasta dish. The effect of Carbon or Charcoal that was flying around the area where these charcoal workers were eating their pasta at the time is given when adding the ground pepper.

Pancetta or its smoked version (which comes from the Pancia or Belly part of the pork) is crucial for this dish. In some versions of this dish peas and/or cream are added (But this for us Italians is a terrible thing to do as peas and cream conflict with the texture, health and real flavors of this dish).

Yield:

6.0 servings

Added:

Monday, December 21, 2009 - 12:42pm

Creator:

Related Cooking Videos