Carbonara, the original recipe

Imitated, discussed, but loved by young and old alike, carbonara is the symbol of our cuisine! Here's how to prepare a fork-proof dish!

Why is pasta carbonara so called?

The name of this dish has its roots at the limit of legend, in fact, to date we do not know for sure why this dish, an evolution of the recipe for cheese and egg pasta, is called this way. Some trace the name of carbonara back to the ancient Apennine tradition of woodcutters, others, however, link the origin of carbonara to the events of a noblewoman from Polesine, who, it is said, had the habit of accompanying the meetings of the Carboneria with a succulent pasta dish!

Curiosity aside… what is the original recipe?

Spaghetti al dente, crispy bacon, fresh eggs and quality pecorino! The ingredient list itself is quite short, but in order to cook a perfect carbonara dish, we have to be very careful! This apparently simple recipe hides risks and pitfalls, even for the most experienced cooks!

Let's start with the right ingredients ...

For a self-respecting carbonara pasta, let's start with the ideal pasta format: spaghetti! For 4 people, we will weigh 350 grams, to be cooked for about ten minutes in boiling salted water.

Let's move on to eggs: respecting the original carbonara recipe, we will not use whole eggs, but only two egg yolks, to achieve that tasty creamy consistency that we love so much in this dish! The egg yolks, then, will be mixed with 30 g of pecorino romano (and for an extra touch of taste you can add a pinch of parmesan!). the secret to obtain an original carbonara pasta is to dilute the eggs with 50 ml of water, obtaining a more liquid compound that will help us avoid the omelette effect!

 It's time to move on to the bacon ...

In the original recipe, the bacon, and not the bacon, should be cut into cubes that are not too small, to prevent them from burning in the pan. For four people we will need about 120g of fresh bacon.

Once cut, we will put it to brown in a pan, without adding other fats, thus avoiding to pollute the flavor with oil and butter!

The Carbonara must be assembled and mixed necessarily out of focus, for this, when you have cooked and drained the pasta - remembering to keep some cooking water aside - toss it with the bacon and transfer everything to a cold bowl, to which we will then add the egg and cheese mixture. Before serving, garnish the pasta with freshly ground pepper and… et voilà, the carbonara is ready!

Any starry secrets? Yes thanks!

Chefs from all over the world have now decreed their version of carbonara. The veto on cream, which destroys the smoky taste of bacon and if, speaking of bacon, you just can't help but replace it with pancetta, at least it's smoked!

Now you are ready to create your carbonara pasta according to the original recipe! Enjoy your meal!