Spaghetti Carbonara
Guanciale, egg yolk, pecorino and pepper.
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OFF HEAT is the whole game. If you can still see steam rising hard off the pan, wait 20 seconds before adding the eggs. The yolks need ~150F to thicken - pan-hot scrambles them. If it does scramble: splash more hot pasta water and whisk fast; sometimes it recovers, sometimes you eat it anyway.
Ingredients
Everything below makes 4 servings.
- 1 lbspaghetti
- 6 ozguancialecut into 1/4-inch lardons
- 6large egg yolks
- 1large whole egg
- 1 cuppecorino romanovery finely grated
- 2 tspblack peppercornsfreshly cracked, coarse
- 1 tspkosher saltfor pasta water (less than usual - guanciale and pecorino bring salt)
In the app these rescale to however many people you're feeding.
Nutrition
Per serving, as written.
- 780calories
- 32gprotein
- 78gcarbs
- 38gfat
Swaps move these numbers. A different protein or base changes them.
Instructions
Knife work first, then the stove. Nothing below asks you to chop while something burns.
- Bring a large pot of LIGHTLY salted water to a boil for the pasta.
- Cut guanciale into 1/4-inch lardons (matchstick-thick strips).
- Separate 6 egg yolks; whisk yolks and 1 whole egg and grated pecorino and cracked pepper in a mixing bowl into a thick paste.
- Crack the black pepper coarsely.
Render guanciale
Add guanciale to a cold skillet. Turn heat to medium and render slowly 6-8 min, stirring, until the fat is liquid gold and the lardons are crisp around the edges but still chewy in the middle. Off heat. DO NOT drain the fat.
8 min · hands onBoil pasta
Drop spaghetti into the boiling water and cook 1 min less than package. Reserve 1.5 cups pasta water before draining.
9 min · hands onMarry
Use tongs to transfer drained spaghetti into the skillet with guanciale and fat. Toss 30 sec to coat every strand. Add 1/4 cup pasta water and toss again.
1 min · hands onTemper and emulsify
OFF HEAT, ideally off the burner. Slowly pour the egg-cheese mixture over the pasta while tossing constantly with tongs. Add hot pasta water 1 tbsp at a time as you toss - you want a glossy, silken sauce, not scrambled eggs. The residual heat cooks the yolks just enough. Keep tossing 60 sec until creamy.
2 min · hands onPlate
Plate immediately. Top with extra pecorino and a heavy crack of black pepper. Eat right now - carbonara has a shelf life measured in seconds.
1 min · hands onMake it yours
Every swap here is one Maui already knows how to make, including what it does to the timing.
Pancetta renders less fat than guanciale - add 1 tsp olive oil to the pan.
Not traditional but easy weeknight fallback - use thick-cut, render slowly.
Adds smoke without pork - won't render the same depth of fat, add 1 tbsp olive oil.
Dress arugula with lemon and olive oil while pasta boils. Adds about 5 minutes.
What keeps
Eat immediately. Carbonara reheating = scrambled egg city.
The whole point is the silken emulsion of yolk and fat and cheese, which breaks the moment it cools and then reheats.
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