Traditional Pasta Carbonara
Traditional Pasta Carbonara is deliciously, simple pasta dish that requires only a few key ingredients. The result is a creamy, light Italian pasta dish accented with salty bits of bacon in a creamy egg and Pecorino-Romano cheese sauce.
If you’ve never made pasta Carbonara before, you’ll love this easy and delicious recipe! The secret is “to keep it simple” with strand pasta, fresh Pecorino-Romano cheese, a few salty bits of bacon–all tossed in creamy eggs.
What is Carbonara?
Carbonara is believed to be originally derived from Rome where it consisted of a simple egg yolk and aged-cheese combination that is incorporated into warm pasta, resulting in a flavorful and thin Italian pasta dish.
Over the years, Americans have altered the traditional “yolks only” recipe by adding heavy cream or other ingredients. A traditional carbonara recipe relies only on the creaminess of the tempered egg mixture and grated cheese with a dash of warm pasta water.
Ingredients
The star of this traditional carbonara recipe is the simplicity of flavors from the ingredients: strand pasta (spaghetti, angel hair, linguine or fettuccine pasta), egg yolks, Pecorino-Romano cheese, salty pork, (bacon crumbles), and fresh ground pepper. That’s it.
There is no need to add onion, garlic, cream, salt or peas to spaghetti alla carbonara! Let the simplicity shine through! You may want to double the recipe if you’re feeding a lot of men or a big group.
How to make it
This is an overview of the steps for making a traditional carbonara sauce. See recipe card below for exact measurements and steps.
- Separate cold egg yolks and beat lightly; set aside to come to room temperature
- Grate cheese and set aside. Bring large pot of water to boil. Cut bacon into small pieces and cook it in a large skillet until crisp; remove bacon pieces and place on paper towel. Discard all but a tablespoon of the bacon grease and keep the skillet on low heat.
- Once pasta is al dente, drain it and use tongs and toss to toss it in the warm bacon grease. Add half of the grated Pecorino cheese to the egg mixture; combine well. Temper the egg mixture with a little warm from the cooked pasta. Pour egg mixture over warm pasta, toss and add remaining grated cheese. Garnish and serve.
Recipe tips
Cold eggs separate easier than room temperature so, separate eggs, then bring the yolks to room temperature
Raw eggs are relatively safe in a carbonara dish once you temper them. However, you can certainly substitute pasteurized eggs, but it’s not really necessary.
The tempering process is quick and easy and allows the temperature of the eggs to come up enough so that thet are safe to eat. The tricky part is incorporating them without making scrambled eggs and pasta.
You can substitute Pecorino-Romano cheese with Parmesan, however, the Pecorino blend is more tangy and true to the original carbonara.
How to temper raw eggs
The secret to a good carbonara sauce is to use raw eggs. Here’s how you temper eggs
Crack and separate the cold eggs, placing the yolks in a bowl. Allow to come to room temperature. Gradually add warm pasta water to the egg yolks, stirring continuously; repeat process until eggs are at a thin consistency.
Storage and reheating
Store leftovers in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to 3 days. When ready to reheat, either place in a large skillet on the stovetop on medium low heat, or place in a microwave safe bowl and microwave it for a few minutes. Pasta carbonara may thicken upon storage and you may have to add a little water to it.
Freezing is not recommended because the texture of the carbonara sauce changes due to the egg yolks.
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Traditional Pasta Carbonara
Ingredients
- 1 lb spaghetti pasta See Recipe Notes below
- 8 oz Percorino-Romano cheese ,grated and divided
- 2 large egg yolks ,(discard or save egg whites)
- 10 cups water ,(for pasta; reserve some to temper the eggs)
- 1 tablespoon salt (for pasta water)
- 8 slices bacon ,cooked, crumbled and drained
- ½ tablespoon ground black pepper
- 2 tablespoons red pepper flakes (optional)
Instructions
Prep
- Crack and separate cold eggs; place egg yolks in a bowl; whisk well; add ½ cup grated cheese to eggs; combine well and set aside2 large egg yolks
- Grate cheese and set aside: 1/2 of the cheese will go into the eggs; the other 1/2 will be used at the end of the recipe8 oz Percorino-Romano cheese
- In a large pot on medium-high heat, bring salted water to boil10 cups water, 1 tablespoon salt (for pasta water)
- Cut bacon into small pieces; set aside8 slices bacon
Instructions
- In a large skillet, cook bacon pieces till crispy; remove bacon pieces and place on paper towel
- Discard all but 1 tablespoon of bacon grease from the skillet; place pan on the stove on a low setting
- Cook pasta 7- 9 minutes (al dente); drain (reserve 1 ½ cups of the water in a bowl); set aside1 lb spaghetti pasta
- Using tongs, transfer drained pasta to the warm skillet with bacon grease; toss pasta
Temper the Eggs
- Add ¼ cup of the warm pasta water to egg/cheese mixture, stirring continuously; repeat by adding another ¼ cup to egg/cheese mixture; combine well
- Pour egg/cheese/water mixture over pasta; combine well; at this point, if you want more sauce, drizzle in a little more of the water from the pasta into the pan
- Add remaining ½ cup grated cheese and bacon crumbles to pasta and tempered egg mixture; (add red pepper flakes now if using them)2 tablespoons red pepper flakes
- Add ground pepper to pasta; combine well and serve; garnish with remaining cheese and serve½ tablespoon ground black pepper
