Easy Spaghetti Carbonara
A creamy, cheesy pasta you can make in 25 minutes with just eggs, bacon and parmesan. No cream needed — this is the real, down-to-earth Roman way. Carbonara grew out of Rome's working kitchens, where a cook's supper was built from cured pork, eggs, hard cheese and a heavy hand with black pepper. It is also a dish with no hiding place: four ingredients, one pan, and nowhere for a mistake to go.
Prep time10 min
Cook time15 min
Total time25 min
Servings4 servings
DifficultyEasy
Ingredients
- 400g spaghetti
- 150g bacon or pancetta, diced
- 3 large eggs
- 1 egg yolk
- 80g parmesan, grated
- 2 garlic cloves, lightly crushed
- Black pepper, to taste
- Salt, for the pasta water
Instructions
- 1Bring a large pot of water to a rolling boil and salt it — roughly 1 tablespoon of salt per 4 litres. Add the spaghetti and cook until al dente, about 1 minute short of the packet time, because it will finish in the pan.
- 2While the pasta cooks, put the diced bacon in a dry pan over medium heat and fry for 5-6 minutes, until the fat renders out and the edges turn crisp. Add the garlic for the last minute for aroma, then take it out so it does not burn.
- 3Scoop out a cup of the starchy cooking water, then drain the pasta. Tip it straight into the bacon pan, which should be off the heat but still warm from frying.
- 4In a bowl, whisk the eggs, egg yolk and most of the parmesan with plenty of freshly ground black pepper until you have a thick, pale paste.
- 5Pour the egg mixture over the pasta and toss quickly with tongs, lifting and folding the strands rather than stirring hard, so the egg coats instead of scrambling.
- 6Add the pasta water a splash at a time, tossing constantly for about 30 seconds, until the sauce turns silky and clings to every strand.
- 7If the pan has gone cold, return it to the lowest possible heat for a few seconds only, tossing non-stop and lifting the pan off the heat the moment it loosens.
- 8Serve at once in warm bowls, with the rest of the parmesan and an extra grind of pepper.
Tips
- Take the pan off the heat before adding the eggs, or they will scramble.
- Starchy pasta water is the secret to a silky sauce — add it a little at a time.
- Use real parmesan or pecorino; pre-grated cheese won't melt the same way.
- Guanciale, the cured pork jowl, is the traditional choice. Ordinary bacon works fine, but smoked bacon will push the dish in a smokier direction.
- Carbonara waits for nobody: the sauce tightens as it cools, so get it to the table the moment it comes together.
