Spaghetti alla Carbonara. Oh Carbonara. One of the first pasta dishes that I learnt and made for my family. Also my favorite non-red sauce pasta. It is creamy, fatty, salty, and cheesy. The trick, very simple, is guanciale and egg yolks. Guanciale is an Italian cured meat, made from pork cheek, hence is full of pork fat. It is DELICIOUS! With that said, it is also difficult to get guanciale. Impossible from supermarkets, actually. Guanciale can only be found at local butcher shops, especially Italian butcher shop. Because guanciale is Italian. Is there any substitute that can be used instead? No. And Yes.
No, because traditionally guanciale is the only fat that can be used to make carbonara. However, some people (aka, Americans) have used bacon as an alternative since bacon is easier to locate. Heck, even I have used pancetta for carbonara a couple times before. What is pancetta, you asked? Pancetta is another Italian cured meat made from pork belly. It does have high fat content, though not as fatty as guanciale, it is a nice alternative.
Basic carbonara includes egg yolks, guanciale, salt, lots of pepper, and good Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese. Really, that is all this recipe requires. Oh, and of course the liquid gold, aka, pasta water. Once you feel comfortable making carbonara, you can add other ingredients to it, such as shrimp or vegetables. Before that, here is how to make carbonara:
Ingredient
Spaghetti: cook according to the packet
2 slices of ¼ inch thickness Guanciale from Butcher Shop
2 Egg Yolks
2 Large Eggs
½ cup packed Parmigiano-Reggiano Cheese plus more
1 cup Pasta Water
Salt and Pepper
Instruction
In a pot, boil water to cook pasta. Add salt to water before adding pasta noodles. This step is to season pasta as it cooks. Do not cook noodles to al dente. We are going to finish cooking the noodles in the same pot as the rest of the ingredients. Remember to reserve a cup of pasta water before straining.
Place guanciale on a cutting board. Use a sharp knife to cut guanciale in to 1 inch long strips. Turn heat up to medium heat. In a Dutch oven, add guanciale and stir. Guanciale will start to release its fat. Once it does that, let it cook till crispy brown, but not burn.
While guanciale is cooking, whisk together eggs and egg yolks in a large mixing bowl till combine. You can strain the egg liquid to make it smooth but it's not required. Add Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese into the mixture and whisk everything together.
Now, remove crispy meat from Dutch oven, add a cup of pasta water that we reserved and turn heat up to med-high heat. Add pasta noodles to the Dutch oven with the fat we just rendered from guanciale. Use a tong to mix everything well and cook till noodles become al dente and liquid reduces to half.
Take the pot off heat.
Slowly pour the egg/cheese mixture to the pot and continue using a tong to mix till it becomes a creamy sauce. Taste for seasoning to see if more salt is needed.
Add crispy guanciale to the pasta. Add lots of pepper and more cheese on top!
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