We took a deep dive into traditional carbonara, tracing it back to its roots as a peasant dish made with pantry ingredients, and re-considered every factor. The result? Less pasta, more crispy-chewy strips of guanciale, and more silky creamy egg to hold it all together. When you buy the guanciale, make sure to ask for it in one piece so that you can cut it into chunky strips that will turn chewy-crispy and find their way into the pasta tubes as you toss together the sauce.
Ingredients
Serves 4 as an appetizer or 2 as a (generous) main course
1
3
3
1
⅓
⅓
8
Special Equipment
Preparation
Step 1
Bring a large pot of lightly salted water to a boil.
Step 2
Meanwhile, toast peppercorns in a medium Dutch oven over medium heat, swirling often, until heated through and fragrant, about 3 minutes. Transfer to spice mill or mortar and pestle and let cool; reserve skillet.
Step 3
Cut guanciale into 1x½x¼" pieces. Arrange in reserved skillet and drizzle with a little oil. Set over medium heat and cook, stirring occasionally, until lightly golden brown and starting to crisp, about 5 minutes (don’t let pieces get too crunchy). Using a slotted spoon, transfer to a small plate.
Step 4
Add about ½ cup hot water from pot to skillet, scraping up brown bits with a wooden spoon. Set skillet aside.
Step 5
Whisk egg yolks, egg, and about three-quarters each of Parmesan and Pecorino in a medium bowl. Coarsely crush peppercorns and add all but a pinch to egg mixture; set remaining pepper aside for serving.
Step 6
As soon as pot of water is at a boil, cook pasta, stirring occasionally, until very, very al dente, about 4 minutes less than package directions.
Step 7
Using a spider or slotted spoon, transfer pasta to skillet with reserved guanciale liquid and set over medium heat (alternatively, scoop out about 2 cups pasta cooking liquid and drain pasta in a colander). Cook pasta, stirring occasionally, until liquid is simmering (you’ll be able to tell because the pasta will be steaming), about 1 minute.
Step 8
Whisking constantly, add about 1 cup pasta cooking liquid to egg mixture to warm it up. Add egg mixture to pasta and cook, tossing constantly, keeping the mixture below a simmer, and adding more pasta cooking liquid by the ½-cupful if needed to adjust the consistency, until sauce thickens just enough to lightly coat pasta, about 5 minutes. Do not rush this step or you risk ending up with a pan of pasta and scrambled eggs. Remove skillet from heat if you want to slow the process down. As soon as you see wisps of steam rising from the egg mixture, that’s a good indication that the sauce is about to go from very liquidy to perfectly thickened. Remove from heat and toss in guanciale.
Step 9
Divide pasta among plates. Top with reserved Parmesan, Pecorino, and pepper.
Leave a Review
Reviews (38)
Back to TopFirst time making carbonara and result was excellent.
Anonymous
4/8/2024
Title should be 'A Twist on Classic Carbonara".
Simone D.
1/31/2023
This is absolutely delicious and very easy. I’ve always avoided carbonara because I don’t like eggs. But my son made this for the family so I gave it a try. If it was healthier I’d eat it every dewy. Silky, wonderful and delicious.
Sara
Melbourne, Australia
12/22/2020
been cooking for over 25 yrs now and never seen this ?? ==>1x½x¼" pieces. wow other than that the recipe is ok
marcel bichon
Ontario
12/17/2020
A comment below refers to a video for this recipe. Where would I find it. Thank you.
Magpie
11/5/2020
Easiest carbonara recipe I have found. I made this for my very picky 5 year old nephew and he told his mom to get the recipe from me!
Anonymous
Wisconsin
7/29/2020
This was my favorite carbonara recipe by far! Highly recommend! My only change was I added a few smashed garlic cloves while frying the guanciale and the removed before adding guanciale to the pasta. I love both spaghetti and rigatoni for this!
Angie T
Tacoma, WA
5/24/2020
Hmmm...The sauce recipe was perfect, but since the “classic” version was made with spaghetti, I don’t understand the use of rigatoni. Italians are masters at using the appropriate shaped pasta for each sauce. Carbonaro Sauce benefits greatly from a long noodle.
Pittsburgh PA
5/4/2020
Made with bacon because I couldn't find guanciale, but it was great! Super glossy sauce. Easier instructions and more foolproof than other carbonara recipes I've tried.
Anonymous
Lethbridge, AB
5/2/2020
I really miss eating at restaurants. This carbonara helped. Would definitely make again.
Anonymous
Philadelphia
5/1/2020
I never leave reviews, but this recipe is awesome. For quarantine reasons I used penne instead of rigatoni and bacon instead of guanciale/pancetta. It was delicious nonetheless and shockingly easy. I have been afraid to attempt carbonara for fear of scrambling the eggs, but this was a total success!
Anonymous
Connecticut
4/29/2020
Absolutely amazing. I was nervous about the eggs scrambling but I just followed the method carefully and it was fine. So much tastier than other carbonara recipes I've tried.
Australia
4/25/2020
The instructions in this recipe were very clear, especially the paragraph for what to do once you add the egg and cheese mixture back into the pan. I was patient and paid attention to temperature (glass cooktop in my apartment makes temp control a little difficult) and it paid off. I would just be VERY CAREFUL about adding the hot water to the pan with hot oil from browning your meat -- it will sputter if you don't have a lot of time to let the oil cool! I halved the recipe to dine for one by using one whole egg and one egg yolk - the yolky ratio is off with this substitution and I can only imagine how much richer and creamier it would be, BUT it did still come together very well!
breebridger3741
Houston, TX
4/23/2020
Amazing! The flavors were awesome and really each bite was extraordinary. My housemate and I ate until we couldn’t each anymore. So simple to follow and I felt like a pro the whole time! Definitely making this again!
natsovintage
Brooklyn, New York
4/22/2020
Another winner from the BA team. Loved the detailed but approachable instructions. PS. I cheated and used bacon since it's all we had at home, and it was still fantastic.
Anonymous
4/20/2020