How to Make Quick Spaghetti Carbonara

Carbonara means charcoal in Italian, and alla carbonara means in the manner of the coal-miners. The recipe is believed to have originated as a meal for Italian miners. Regardless of its origins, spaghetti carbonara is an easy recipe that can be cooked with ingredients already available in most kitchens.

Things You'll Need

• Spaghetti
• Bacon (preferably pancetta) sliced or cubed
• Ground pepper
• Extra virgin olive oil
• Egg yolks
• Cream (optional)
• Parmigiano cheese (can be substituted with grated Parmesan)
• Romano cheese (optional)

Instructions

1. Bring a large pot of water to a boil. The amount of water used should be about five times the amount of pasta. Once the water starts boiling, generously add salt. Spaghetti should be cooked according to the instructions on the package.

2. Beat the eggs yolks, ground pepper and the cheeses. You can add salt to taste if you want, but the cheeses already have a lot of it. Put it aside for now.

3. In a large pan, start cooking the bacon/pancetta until brown and crispy. Halfway through the process, add the olive oil (to taste).

4. Add the egg yolk mixture from Step 2 into the large pan with the bacon and let cook for 30 seconds while stirring.

5. Drain the pasta in the colander, while being careful to leave a little bit of water.

6. Add the pasta to the bacon and eggs mixture and let it cook some more while stirring constantly.
   Add the remaining pasta water, and cook until the egg mixture has thickened.

Tips & Warnings

• After all is done, season with pepper to taste.

References

• Leite's Culinaria: Spaghetti alla Carbonara