Description
Creamy Spaghetti alla Carbonara – a creamy and delicious classic pasta dish that is perfect for date-night-in or Valentine’s Day!
Ingredients
Scale
- 1/2 lb dried spaghetti
- 4oz pancetta (roughly chopped)
- 2 egg yolks and 1 whole egg (as fresh as possible, organic/free-range if possible)
- 1/2 cup freshly grated pecorino cheese/Parmigiano-Reggiano (feel free to use one or the other or even a combination of the two)
- 1/8 Teaspoon ground black pepper
- 1/8 Teaspoon red pepper flakes (optional)
- pinch of salt
Instructions
- In small bowl, add egg, parmesan cheese and ground black pepper.
- Whisk.
- In large pot, add just enough water to cover pasta.
- Add about a 3-4 Teaspoons kosher salt.
- Bring water to boil and add pasta – cook al dente.
- While pasta is cooking, place chopped pancetta in large skillet (that is big enough to hold your pasta too) and bring to medium heat.
- Cook pancetta, stirring somewhat constantly, until the fat renders itself and the pancetta becomes somewhat crispy (this should take almost as long as it takes for your pasta to cook – but if your pancetta gets done first, just remove from heat for a minute).
- Add your red pepper flakes (if desired) to the pancetta and let cook another minute.
- Reserve 1/2 cup of the pasta water and set aside.
- Drain the rest of the pasta and then pour it into the pan with the pancetta.
- Bring back to medium heat and stir constantly – add a splash of the pasta water (about a Tablespoon) and stir some more, ensuring the pasta is good and hot and coated with the rendered pancetta fat.
- Pour in egg/cheese mixture and immediately remove from direct heat.
- Stir constantly ensuring the egg coats every noodle.
- If egg gets thick, add additional pasta water to emulsify the egg and to keep a creamy consistency. (I ended up using the entire 1/2 cup pasta water)
- Taste and add a pinch of salt and any additional fresh ground pepper to taste (I added about 1/8 Teaspoon to mine and it was perfect, but it might depend upon how salty your pancetta is or your bacon if that is what you are using).
- Garnish with additional chunks or freshly grated cheese and parsley, if desired.
- *consume uncooked or undercooked eggs at your own discretion.