Spagetti carbonara

There are hundreds, if not thousands of recipes of Spagetti Carbonara, and mine is not very different. It has taken me many failures though before I have found a way that I feel I can serve family and friends. The most important thing is, as always, the ingredients. Guanciale, Pecorino Romano and good pasta are the keys. And love and engagement while cooking will make the difference. 

Ingredients for 4 hungry persons.

• Guanciale (no bacon or other figments). 300 g

• Eggs 3 yokes and one whole.

• Pecorino Romano. 150 g

• High quality spagetti (at least 14% protein). 500 g

Boil water (without salt since the guanciale and pecorino are salty enough) in a large pot. Put in pasta and set timer. Stir every now and then.

Finely grate the cheese and mix with the eggs to a thick batter and put to the side.

Cut the guanciale in small pieces and fry the guanciale in a large pan (need to fit also all the cooked pasta later) at pretty high heat. Scoop out the guanciale when almost crispy, but leave the fat in the pan. Add a couple of scoops of water from the boiling spagetti pot (contains starch that will make the sauce creamy when mixed with the spagetti later). Add pepper q.b. and let the fat/water/pepper mix simmer. If there is a need for more water, go ahead and add. 

When the pasta is ready, turn off the pasta pot and scoop the pasta into the large pan. Now the fun begins. You need to stir and toss the pasta in the pan so it becomes creamy. I use a kitchen tong to stir violently at the same time as I use the pan to toss the pasta. Add more water if needed. When you are happy with the results, turn off the heat and after a little while start pouring in the cheese/egg-mix. Keep stirring and tossing quite frantically at this so the pasta turns even creamier. As a last step you add the guanciale (save some for garnish). Add salt and pepper q.b.

Buon appetito.