Sep 26, 2012
Spaghetti alla Carbonara is not difficult to make and requires just a few simple, but standard, required ingredients. It really does not vary much from one recipe to the next. This recipe is a fundamental, basic reference recipe. I find it a little easier to mix the (room temperature) egg and cheese in a bowl and then add the cooked pasta to that mixture (rather than the other way around). I stir in the cooked meat, be it guanciale, pancetta or bacon, at the end. Add a little of the pasta cooking water if the sauce seems a little dry – the dish should be creamy, but not swimming in sauce. I just returned from Italy, where I was lucky enough to enjoy this pasta dish with guanciale, which comes from the jowls of the pig. I admit it sounded unappealing when I first tried it years ago, but only because it was unfamiliar. It is the best and by comparison neither pancetta nor bacon measure up. Unfortunately, it is hard to find here in the states. In its absence I’ve used pancetta, as I did tonight, other times bacon, and I have to say that if I can’t have this with guanciale I prefer bacon over the pancetta. I found this recipe a little heavy on the cheese for my taste, so I backed off on it by about one-third. Nothing innovative about this recipe – but because this is a classic dish, it shouldn’t be.
—naples34102
