Spaghetti Carbonara easy recipe – no cream needed

For italians, carbonara is much more than a dish, it is part of our identity. We love carbonara so much that we dedicate a day to celebrate it: 6/04 is Carbonara Day. We only need three ingredients for carbonara: eggs, guanciale and Roman pecorino cheese. The most popular pasta format for carbonara abroad is spaghetti. However, we also recommend rigatoni. 

How do you prepare carbonara?

The secret is to prepare a perfect cream for the pasta. The cream is obtained from the yolks of eggs. If you would like to use ham or bacon… throw it away! You need guanciale. Its fat is used to make a perfect cream. Here’s the recipe. 

Ingredients (for 4 people)

Spaghetti 320 gr
Guanciale 150 gr
5 egg yolks (one +1 each)
Pecorino Romano cheese 50 g
Black pepper (to taste)

Recipe and Process

First we have to prepare spaghetti; we put a pot of salted water on the cooker and, when it boils, we cook the pasta. In the meantime, we process the guanciale. Remove the outer part and cut it into slices, then cut it into strips about 1cm thick and place the pieces of guanciale in a pan where we cook them over a low heat. When ready, place it in a bowl and set aside.

Now it’s time to prepare the sauce. Place the egg yolks in a bowl and add enough pecorino cheese. Mix everything together with a whisk until you have a smooth cream.

Now add the drained pasta to the pan already coated with guanciale fat. Switch off the heat and pour the egg and pecorino mixture into the same pan. Stir well and quickly to mix everything together.

Which wine goes best with spaghetti carbonara? A nice typical Italian red wine is a must.

Let’s talk about Pasta Alfredo: is it different from carbonara?

Putting carbonara aside for a moment, you can’t miss this curiosity about Pasta Alfredo. Like carbonara, it has become a symbol of Italian cuisine especially in America. This is a simple and tasty first course that few Italians know actually has Italian origins, or rather Roman origins to be precise.

It consists of: pasta, butter and Parmesan cheese made from egg fettuccine seasoned with a creamy emulsion of cheese and butter that creates an enveloping sauce full of flavour!

They were prepared for the first time in 1914 by Alfredo Di Lelio, owner of the restaurant of the same name in Via della Scrofa in Rome, to comfort his wife who had just given birth. There were two Americans in the restaurant that day and they liked the dish so much that they suggested putting pasta Alfredo on the menu!

If you want to try carbonara by yourself and you are not in Italy, order all the ingredients on Vico Food Box.