Carbonara is one of the simplest pasta dishes you can make. A classic carbonara has no cream, as the pasta water, cheese and egg combine in a luscious, silky sauce. People are often nervous about getting it wrong but follow this easy technique and you can be sure your sauce will never scramble.
Pappardella carbonara
Serves 4
Ingredients
400g pappardella or spaghetti
1Tbsp olive oil
100g pancetta or smoked bacon, diced
3 eggs
1 cup grated Parmesan
Black pepper to taste
Method
- Bring a large pot of salted water to the boil and cook the pasta until al dente.
- While the water is coming to the boil and the pasta is cooking, put the oil and diced pancetta or bacon into a large pan and cook on a low heat until some fat has rendered out.
- Increase the heat to medium-high and cook until crispy.
- When the pasta is cooked, reserve ¼ cup of pasta water and add the drained pasta to the bacon pan. Turn the heat to low.
- In a bowl, whisk the eggs, black pepper and half the cheese. While whisking the eggs vigorously, slowly stream in the reserved pasta water (it should still be hot) until the mixture is creamy. Tempering the eggs like this prevents them from scrambling when added to a hot pan.
- Pour the tempered eggs over the pasta and mix until coated. Turn off the heat, add the rest of the cheese, and give it a final gentle mix.
- Serve immediately with extra black pepper.