Let me introduce the Spaghetti alla Carbonara Recipe with two caveats, small and large, necessary before getting into trouble or anything else. I don’t want to upset anyone, contradict anyone, and above all, I don’t want to argue with anyone. It’s not my intention and it’s not what I want to do with my home cooking and recipe blog.
The first small caveat: I wrote spaghetti but I could have easily written Pasta Carbonara or Carbonara Recipe and many other things, but not knowing what name to give this recipe, I decided to call it that.
Second and large caveat: I don’t presume to write the Original Carbonara Recipe, Roman Pasta alla Carbonara, or even the Perfect Carbonara Recipe or similar things. I simply said and wrote Spaghetti alla Carbonara because that’s how I prepare it and that’s how we like it. However, I won’t deny that this is an easy and creamy Carbonara to prepare!!! Let me say and show you this also in the video!!!
Therefore, before flooding me, the blog, and all associated profiles with “it’s not the real one”, “it’s not done this way” or “what have you done” or more, please pass on if this recipe is not to your liking. I’m not here to convince anyone of having the Key to the Vault of homemade Carbonara, nor do I presume to force you to like my recipe.
Actually, I’m here to engage with you and with your carbonaras in the full spirit of the Carbonara Day Celebration. A whole day on April 6, 2024, and this year not only on that day, of Celebration for this Italian main dish that turns 70 years old!!! In fact, in the video recipe you find below and in the photos, you’ll see the official shirt of the Carbonara Day.
A unique event of its kind on social media and beyond, with live events and events across Italy. From April 1 to 6, 2024 we all celebrate Pasta alla Carbonara together!!! Lives, posts, videos, stories, the Digital World will wish Happy Birthday to the Carbonara on its first 70 years of life!
Traces of this dish of “cacio e ova pasta” have been found since 1944 during World War II. In the Aquilana area, the Charcoal Burners, or Carbonari (from the Roman dialect), would refresh themselves from work with plates of pasta with cheese and eggs that were seasoned with lard and guanciale. From here perhaps the name Carbonara that made this pasta dish famous worldwide. Recognizable by its divine egg cream, with the unmistakable aroma of guanciale, the Carbonara is an Italian main dish that we all adore and prepare.
The first Carbonara Recipe was published in 1954 for the first time in “La Cucina Italiana” magazine of the time, which was based in Milan. A peculiarity is that among the ingredients was gruyere instead of pecorino and pancetta instead of guanciale. Both were in fact much more popular ingredients in the North than in the South or Central Italy. Around the ’70s, it began to spread also in the Roman area to reach the ’80s when the true and proper Carbonara was born, which we still enjoy at our tables. The eggs remain, pecorino and guanciale are added to become the iconic dish of Italian Cuisine as the world knows it today.
For this reason, I invite you to participate in this 70th Birthday of the Pasta Carbonara! I await you on all the social profiles of the blog @lericettedibea from April 1 to 6, 2024!!!
Below I also leave you other first course recipes, including Carbonara Risotto which for lovers of this dish is not to be missed. You will also find the Collection Easy, Quick and Delicious Pasta First Course Recipes, the entire collection of recipes from my blog!!!
- Difficulty: Easy
- Cost: Cheap
- Preparation time: 5 Minutes
- Portions: 2 people
- Cooking methods: Stovetop
- Cuisine: Italian
- Seasonality: All seasons
- Energy 986.51 (Kcal)
- Carbohydrates 27.93 (g) of which sugars 0.51 (g)
- Proteins 36.81 (g)
- Fat 80.27 (g) of which saturated 34.56 (g)of which unsaturated 38.83 (g)
- Fibers 1.75 (g)
- Sodium 2,457.19 (mg)
Indicative values for a portion of 100 g processed in an automated way starting from the nutritional information available on the CREA* and FoodData Central** databases. It is not food and / or nutritional advice.
* CREATES Food and Nutrition Research Center: https://www.crea.gov.it/alimenti-e-nutrizione https://www.alimentinutrizione.it ** U.S. Department of Agriculture, Agricultural Research Service. FoodData Central, 2019. https://fdc.nal.usda.gov
Ingredients for two servings of Spaghetti alla Carbonara
- 3 egg yolks (room temperature)
- 3.5 oz guanciale (cured)
- 2.5 oz Pecorino Romano (grated)
- 1 oz Grana Padano grated (or another 1 oz of Pecorino Romano)
- 6.3 oz spaghetti (or another pasta shape you prefer)
- 1 pinch salt
- 1 pinch pepper
- as needed water (cooking water for preparation)
We will also need: plenty of water to boil the pasta and water for the bain-marie of the egg yolk cream and cheese. Keep in mind that the cooking water for the preparation of the cheese cream of the carbonara should be kept aside until the end of preparation. Do not throw anything away until you have plated the Spaghetti alla Carbonara.
Tools for Spaghetti alla Carbonara
List of necessary tools is quite long, I must say that to prepare a dish of pasta alla carbonara we will dirty quite a few kitchen utensils. But I swear it will be worth it, trust me!!!
- 1 Bowl
- 1 Cutting board
- 1 Knife
- 1 Hand whisk
- 1 Wooden spoon
- 1 Ladle
- 1 Colander
- 1 Pan
- 2 Pots
- 1 Grater
- 2 Small bowls
- 1 Slotted spoon
The first tool on this list is Bow but be careful, it should not be just any bowl. To prepare the egg yolk cream for the carbonara we will need a stainless steel bowl. In fact, we will prepare the egg cream by placing the bowl on a pot with boiling water. In this way, we will also be sure to have pasteurized the eggs, so they will not be raw because we will reach a temperature between 140 and 158 degrees Fahrenheit. We will lose a bit of color, as you see my carbonara is not egg yolk red like many others found on other sites or at restaurants. We are very fond of cheeses and we added quite a bit to the egg yolk cream, thus losing that orange color typical of carbonara. If you want to achieve a different color, reduce the amount of cheese to use in this recipe.
Therefore, if you don’t have a stainless steel bowl, don’t perform this step. Do not use a glass bowl because you could seriously hurt yourself. To buy a stainless steel bowl, visit a home goods store or click here and get a bowl like mine.
Steps of the Spaghetti alla Carbonara Recipe
After the various caveats, the ingredient list and that of the necessary tools, I would say to start the recipe, much easier to do than to explain. For this reason, I also shot the video recipe, seeing the various steps is very helpful in my opinion.
Let’s gather all the ingredients we will need to prepare our creamy Carbonara and arrange them on a work surface and then, armed with a hand whisk and hand grater, let’s begin!
First, we prepare the guanciale. I chose a cured guanciale of about 100 grams. We remove the rind and the surface part where there is pepper. This will allow us to control the saltiness and pepper amount of our pasta alla carbonara. With a knife, preferably without a serrated edge, cut the guanciale into not too small cubes.
We then take a non-stick pan and place it on medium-high heat. Let the bottom heat up well and then add the guanciale. Please do not add oil, butter, or anything else, nothing is needed. We will let the guanciale release its fat during cooking. Of course, we will not throw anything away, we are serious Carbonari. So prepare a slotted spoon and two small bowls.
We cook the guanciale cubes for a few minutes over medium heat to create a nice crust on the outside, then lower the heat to finish cooking. This will allow us to get crispy guanciale on the outside with a soft heart inside.
While we perform this step, place two pots of different sizes on the burners. One will be used to cook the pasta, so choose it based on the pasta format you have chosen. The other must be the right size to position the stainless steel bowl for the bain-marie cooking of the egg yolk and cheese cream.
Now let’s take the slotted spoon, take all the pieces of guanciale and place them in a small bowl. In the other, we will pour all the liquid fat released by the guanciale. Keep these two ingredients separate aside.
Now we think about the egg and cheese cream. First, we grate the cheeses, about 70 grams for Pecorino Romano and another 30 grams or so of Parmesan or Grana Padano. Otherwise, a single dose of Pecorino Romano of about 100 grams. Then we separate the whites from the yolks, and we will use only the latter. Do not throw away the whites but instead prepare with them high protein pancakes or an omelet.
Pour the three yolks into the stainless steel bowl along with the cheeses. Sprinkle with black pepper and salt. Work quickly with a hand whisk. Then place the bowl on the pot to proceed with the bain-marie. Add a ladle of pasta cooking water that we have lightly salted. I added less than half a teaspoon of salt to two liters of water. As anticipated, the water we use to cook the pasta will be used repeatedly during the step-by-step of this recipe.
We then work the cream until it becomes creamy and without lumps. We also add the liquid fat from the guanciale to it. If necessary, add more cooking water during this preparation. Once ready, remove the bowl from the bain-marie and set aside.
We are finally ready to boil the pasta we have chosen. Once the water has come to a boil, we will add the pasta. In my case, very evident, they are large and rough spaghetti, nice and hearty as we like them. The package indicated 13 minutes of cooking, I let them cook for only 12 minutes. We will indeed toss the pasta in the bowl with the cacio e ova cream.
After the cooking time, we drain the pasta. We then pass it into the bowl, adding another two ladles of cooking water that we have wisely set aside. Work quickly with a wooden spoon. Add the guanciale cubes and plate our beautiful and creamy carbonara. Sprinkle with Pecorino Romano and black pepper. All that’s left is to enjoy it!!! If you have a good red wine, make a toast to this main dish that after 70 years is still perfected, continues to amaze us and make us fall in love, fork after fork, bite after bite, whether from the restaurant or home cooking!
I just have to remind you that I await you here every day in my kitchen with many easy, quick, and delicious recipes like this one. Every morning then, in the group and on the Facebook fan page of Le Ricette di Bea you will find the Recipe of the Day and many other food-related contents and not only live!!! Now we are finally done, I have only one thing left to say: I wish you bon appétit!!!
If you liked this Simple Homemade Carbonara Recipe, let me know in the comments, share it on your social profiles and especially if you prepare it in the coming days, send me a photo or tag the blog @lericettedibea if you like!!!
I am really happy and proud to be among the 70 food bloggers chosen by We Love Pasta for the Carbonara Birthday, I think you can sense the joy from the photos I included in this recipe. I hope I have involved all of you in the celebrations!!!
Variations of the Pasta alla Carbonara Recipe
Romans or Believers of the Carbonara Faith, close your eyes and do not read or hear the following. You can vary the guanciale with some bacon if you already have it in the fridge, otherwise, if you go shopping, always get some cured guanciale to make this recipe.
As already indicated in the ingredient list of the Pasta alla Carbonara, if you do not have enough Pecorino Romano, you can add some Grana Padano or Parmigiano Reggiano. I mixed the two cheeses to tone down the saltiness of Pecorino Romano, which for my taste remains too salty.
A more than logical variation is the cut or shape of the pasta, from spaghetti to short pasta, no one forbids or judges your choice. I have always had some large Spaghettoni in the pantry that I love. For this carbonara dish, they were perfect!!!
