Serve with homemade garlic bread for an easy weeknight supper. You may be surprised that Spaghetti Carbonara is the easiest pasta dish you’ll ever make! With just a handful of ingredients, you’ll have a creamy pasta dish loaded with Parmesan cheese and crisp pork that’s out of this world! Oh, and it’s ready in just 15 minutes! What more can you want?
Are Eggs Raw In Carbonara?
The eggs are added to the hot pan off direct heat to avoid becoming scrambled eggs. The residual heat of the pan and the freshly cooked pasta is more than enough heat to cook the eggs, making them safe to eat. You know the eggs are cooked when they thicken with a glossy creaminess.
Step By Step Instructions
Add eggs, egg yolk, Parmesan cheese, and Romano cheese to a small bowl. Add the egg mixture immediately after draining the pasta. You want the pasta to be hot, so the eggs cook and set the sauce. When you add the egg mixture to the spaghetti, keep it moving, adding reserved pasta water as needed until the sauce is the consistency you want. Serve immediately, and don’t attempt to return the pan to direct heat. Pasta: Spaghetti is traditional, but you can use any pasta you like best such as fettuccini, linguini, bucatini, or rigatoni. Cook until al dente with a little bite. I recommend good quality dry pasta as it’s easier to cook al dente than fresh. Eggs: Use room temperature large or jumbo eggs. Yellow eggs will give a more subtle yellow color, while brown eggs will produce a richer color. Reserved Pasta Water: The hot, starchy pasta water is the secret to a luscious carbonara sauce. With just a small amount, your carbonara sauce becomes the creamy masterpiece it’s famous for. Cheese: I use Pecorino Romano and a little Parmesan cheese. Authentic Spaghetti Alla Carbonara is made with only Pecorino Romano. Some Italians would be offended by the use of other cheeses, so if you want an authentic Carbonara, use only Pecorino Romano. Whatever you choose, be sure to use freshly grated cheese for the smoothest result. Pepper: Black pepper is a key ingredient in Carbonara sauce. Freshly grated black pepper is best as its aroma and flavor dissipate quickly. A Note on Garlic: I get a lot of comments regarding garlic. Many people feel it’s a necessary ingredient. It’s not a traditional ingredient, but if you want to add it, I recommend using crushed whole, peeled garlic cloves. Cook them with the pork to add flavor and remove it before adding the pasta. Whisk together until the whites and eggs are fully incorporated and set aside. Heat a large pot of salted water over high heat, boil it, and start cooking the pasta. While the pasta cooks, heat the oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat and cook guanciale, pancetta, or bacon until brown and crisp. You want to keep the fat in the pan. It adds a lot of flavor. If there is an excess of fat in the pan, drain some, but lease about two tablespoons of the fat. Then remove the pan from the heat for one to two minutes before draining the pasta. Reserve a half-cup of pasta cooking water before draining. Drain the pasta briefly, leaving the pasta slightly wet. Gradually add the egg mixture and gently toss it together to cook the eggs with the hot pasta. Add some reserved pasta water as needed for creaminess until the sauce is your preferred consistency. Taste for seasoning and add more salt as needed. Spaghetti Alla Carbonara should be served immediately as it can dry out quickly out as it cools, so enjoy it while it’s still hot! Update Notes: This recipe was originally posted in January 2021. It was republished with new photos, tips, and ingredient notes in 2022. Erren’s Kitchen is written and produced for informational intentions only. We are not certified nutritionists, and the nutritional information found on this site has not been assessed or authorized by a nutritionist or the FDA. The nutritional information found in our recipes is offered as an estimate and should not be considered a guarantee or fact. The estimated data is provided as a courtesy and calculated through a third-party online nutritional calculator, spoonacular API. Although we do our best to provide accurate nutritional information, these figures should be considered rough estimates. Many factors, such as brands or products purchased and the nutritional fluctuations that naturally occur in fresh produce, can alter the effectiveness of the nutritional information in any recipe. Furthermore, various online calculators provide different results depending on their particular algorithms and nutrition fact sources. To obtain the most precise nutritional information in a provided recipe, you should calculate the nutritional information with the exact ingredients you are using when preparing the recipe using your preferred nutrition calculator.
