Spaghetti alla Carbonara
• • • Makes 4 servings • • •
What could be better than spaghetti with bacon and eggs? That is, essentially, what spaghetti alla carbonara is. But it’s not as easy to pull off as you might think. It takes some elbow grease to achieve that luscious, creamy egg sauce. You must work quickly when adding the beaten eggs to the hot pasta, and stir, stir, stir. Otherwise you’ll end up with spaghetti and scrambled eggs, and the Romans will feed you to the lions.
2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
2 large cloves garlic, lightly crushed
7 ounces (200 g) pancetta (page 226) or guanciale (page 229), cut into strips or diced
⅓ cup (79 g) dry white wine
4 large eggs
2 tablespoons heavy cream
½ teaspoon fine sea salt
Freshly ground black pepper
½ cup (50 g) freshly grated Pecorino Romano, plus more for serving
1 pound (454 g) spaghetti
1 • Bring a large pot of water to a rolling boil and salt it generously.
2 • Combine the olive oil and garlic in a large skillet over medium heat. Cook for about 5 minutes, pressing down on the garlic to release its flavor. Remove the garlic before it starts to brown. Stir in the pancetta and cook until it has rendered some of its fat and is lightly browned, about 10 minutes. Raise the heat to medium-high and pour in the wine. Cook, stirring often, until most of the liquid has evaporated, 1 to 2 minutes.
3 • Crack the eggs into a bowl and beat lightly. Whisk in the cream, salt, and a generous grinding of pepper. Stir in the cheese.
4 • Cook the spaghetti according to the package instructions until al dente. Drain, reserving about 1 cup of the cooking water. Return the pasta to the pot and place it back on the stove, but do not turn the burner on. Gradually pour in the egg mixture in a steady stream, while stirring vigorously with a serving fork or pasta fork as you pour. This stirring is what will give the sauce its creamy, rather than scrambled, texture, so don’t let up. Once all the egg mixture has been added, add a splash or two of cooking water to loosen the sauce if necessary. Then stir in the pancetta and any drippings from the pan. Toss well to incorporate.
5 • Serve the spaghetti hot, with additional cheese for sprinkling on top.