Scrambled Eggs, Cheese, and Avocado Tortilla Bowl Recipe
September 16, 2025
Carbonara Recipe
It is a actual spaghetti carbonara recipe made the normal Italian approach, with out a single drop of cream. It depends solely on egg and cheese to make a luscious, creamy carbonara sauce. Meals match for a king (or queen!) that proves easy may be magnificent.
Economical observe – Use bacon as an alternative of guanciale and parmesan as an alternative of parmigiano reggiano for a really respectable model of carbonara that may nonetheless make Italians proud. However don’t add cream! 😊
Carbonara is a gorgeous, traditional Italian pasta that’s so creamy, you’d swear there’s a great quantity of cream in it. And certainly, there’s loads of recipes that cheat by including in cream.
However right now, we’re making spaghetti carbonara correctly, the genuine, conventional approach. No cream. Simply egg, cheese and a splash of starchy pasta cooking water.
quarter-hour later, THIS is the sight that will likely be in entrance of you. And also you’ll make 60 million Italians beam with pleasure!
You may think about consuming that mouthful of chewy spaghetti bathed within the creamy sauce, proper? Don’t dream about it. Make it a actuality!! It’s so fast and straightforward it can blow your thoughts!
What occurs if I add cream?
Exterior of Italy, plenty of recipes “cheat” by including cream into carbonara sauce, for numerous causes. Not a foul factor, per se, it’s simply that it’s now not an actual carbonara.
However extra importantly for me (along with, in fact, the truth that I’m sharing a recipe with the intention of respecting the origins), cream alters the mouthfeel and flavour. You see, actual carbonara is wealthy and creamy to eat. However you don’t get that slick of dairy fats coating your mouth such as you do when consuming cream.
Put one other approach – carbonara is the way you get your creamy pasta repair with out feeling weighed down such as you do while you bask in pastas doused with heavy cream. Win!
Carbonara requires uncooked eggs that are stirred vigorously off the range with scorching cooked pasta, guanciale (a cured pork like bacon), parmesan and a splash of pasta cooking water. Watch the magic unfold earlier than your eyes as 4 easy components transforms into an opulent creamy sauce! NO CREAM allowed! 🙂
Economical observe: Substitute guanciale with bacon and use parmesan as an alternative of parmigiana reggiano. You’ll nonetheless seize the essence of actual carbonara that may make Italians proud!
-
Guanciale – It is a key ingredient in carbonara, and is a cured fatty pork that’s much like bacon and pancetta. It provides provides flavour into the dish and the fats makes the sauce creamy when combined with the egg and starchy pasta cooking water.
Discover it at Italian delis, Harris Farms (Syd, QLD), and speciality produce shops. It’s a little bit of a speciality product however may be substituted with pancetta or streaky bacon in a pinch! Greatest to get block kind so you possibly can lower it into thick batons. If pre-sliced is all you will get, attempt to get thick lower.
Extra data on guanciale beneath.
-
Parmigiano reggiano – That is mainly a premium parmesan that’s been aged so it has extra advanced flavours. It provides salt into the sauce in addition to thickening it. Pecorino romano, which is created from sheep milk, can be generally used, or a mixture of the 2. Substitute with parmesan cheese.
Should grate your personal! No matter you employ, don’t use retailer purchased pre-grated because it gained’t soften correctly within the sauce.
-
Egg yolks and complete eggs – The egg mixed with the guanciale fats is what makes the beautiful creamy carbonara sauce that the world is obsessive about. There’s no want for cream for a creamy sauce! See part above for why.
We use a mixture of complete eggs, plus egg yolks for richness. If solely yolks are used, the richness is a little bit too off-the-charts!
Uncooked egg issues? Nowadays in developed nations, meals security requirements are such that you shouldn’t should be involved about consuming uncooked eggs sourced from respected shops. Actually, uncooked eggs are used extra generally than you most likely realise, resembling in tiramisu and mayonnaise. So in the event you’ve ever had any of those at eating places, you’ve had uncooked eggs!
Nonetheless, in case you are pregnant or immunity compromised, I might suggest avoiding uncooked eggs as a precaution. Make fettucine alfredo as an alternative!
-
Spaghetti – Whereas you should utilize any lengthy pasta, the most typical kind used is spaghetti.
-
Pepper – For seasoning. Freshly floor black pepper beneficial right here.
-
No salt in sauce – The pasta cooking water is salted so it flavours the spaghetti because it cooks. And the carbonara sauce will get salt from the guanciale and cheese.
-
Garlic, non-obligatory – Whereas not strictly conventional, garlic is a well-liked addition and it does add further flavour into it. 🙂
Guanciale for (actual) carbonara
Value searching down? Sure, if it’s accessible, inside your funds and you’re eager to expertise an genuine carbonara. However bacon or pancetta makes a really respectable substitute!
Guanciale is a cured Italian pork that’s created from pig jowls or cheek that appears like a block of bacon. It has extra intense flavour than on a regular basis bacon due to the pork lower used and it’s aged 3+ months.
It has a excessive proportion of fats, and that’s precisely appropriately and is required for carbonara. The fats that melts out of the guanciale when sautéed till golden is a key flavouring for the creamy carbonara sauce.
In case you don’t have sufficient fats (for instance, in the event you attempt to make this with lean bacon), your sauce won’t ever thicken.
Substitute guanciale with pancetta or bacon, ideally in block kind so you possibly can lower it into batons. Biting into the golden brown chunks of guanciale is a spotlight of this dish!! Whichever you employ, it’s important to make sure there’s loads of streaks of fats.
Pre-sliced bacon? It would work however as a result of the slices are thinner than the best baton dimension, you’ll find yourself with much more bacon bits all through your dish than pictured on this publish. Maybe not thought-about a damaging, by some! 🙂
Sauté guanciale till golden. Combine scorching cooked pasta vigorously with the guanciale, egg, cheese and a splash of pasta cooking water and watch because it transforms into an opulent, creamy sauce.
HOT TIP: Use the deal with of a wood spoon to combine. Quick and efficient!
-
Batons – Lower the guanciale into thick batons. Biting by way of the golden brown crust into meaty bits of salty guanciale is a part of the awesomeness that’s carbonara!
-
Finely grate the parmigiana reggiano or pecorino. I exploit a microplane – one among can’t-live-without kitchenware gadgets!
-
Sauce – Whisk collectively the egg, cheese and pepper in a big bowl. It must be a big bowl as a result of the pasta will likely be stirred into the sauce within the bowl, off the range, to keep away from scrambling the eggs.
-
Cook dinner pasta – Carry 4 litres (4 quarts) of water to the boil with 1 tablespoon of salt. Cook dinner the pasta per packet instructions. It needs to be agency, not gentle, however totally cooked by way of.
-
Reserve pasta cooking water – Simply earlier than draining, scoop out one cup of pasta cooking water. Then drain the pasta in a colander.
-
Cook dinner guanciale till golden whereas the pasta is cooking. You don’t want any oil, the guanciale will fry in its personal fats.
-
Toss pasta in guanciale – Tumble the recent pasta into the pan with the guanciale then toss so the pasta will get coated within the guanciale fats.
-
Switch into sauce bowl – Tip the recent pasta into the bowl with the egg and use a rubber spatula to scrape out each drop of the guanciale fats into the bowl. That stuff is gold! 🙂
-
Add 1/2 cup pasta cooking water into the bowl.
-
Combine vigorously with the deal with of a wood spoon, spinning the pasta round, for round 30 seconds to 1 minute. Watch because the watery pale yellow liquid magically transforms right into a creamy sauce.
it’s prepared when the sauce is now not watery and pooled within the backside of the bowl. As a substitute, it is going to be thickened, creamy, and clinging to the pasta!
-
Serve instantly in heat bowls. Pasta waits for nobody!
Heat bowls? Sure. I don’t normally heat bowls for serving meals, however for pasta, I nearly all the time do. It’s because pasta is at its finest when it’s freshly made with the sauce is slick and the pasta is juicy. Because it cools, the sauce thickens and the pasta will get stodgy. A heat bowl prolongs the lifetime of pasta. I simply heat bowls by putting a stack within the microwave for 1 minute. Else, run it beneath scorching water or put in a low oven.
And there you will have it. One of the luxurious pasta dishes on this planet. Do you know it was this fast and straightforward to make? Such is the great thing about Italian meals. The simplicity, letting produce take centre stage with just a few little tips to make magnificent good with so few components.
5 components.
quarter-hour.
It’s a completely stunner. I actually hope you do this someday. – Johnsat x
Ingredients
- 175g/6 oz guanciale (pancetta or block bacon), weight after skin removed (Note 1)
- 2 large eggs (Note 2)
- 2 egg yolks (Note 2)
- 100g/3.5 oz parmigiano reggiano , finely shredded (or pecorino romano, sub parmesan, Note 3)
- 1/4 tsp black pepper
- 400g/14 oz spaghetti
- 1 tbsp cooking/kosher salt (for cooking pasta)
- 1/2 cup pasta cooking water
- 1 garlic clove , finely minced (optional, Note 4)
- Parsley , finely chopped
- Parmigiano reggiano
Instructions
- Guanciale – Cut into 0.5cm / 1/5" thick slices then into batons.
- Carbonara sauce – Place eggs and yolks in a large bowl. Whisk to combine. Then stir in the parmesan and pepper.
- Cook pasta – Bring 4 litres (4 quarts) of water to the boil with the salt. Add pasta and cook per the packet directions.
- Reserve pasta water – Just before draining, scoop out 1 cup of pasta cooking water, then drain the pasta.
- Cook guanciale – While the pasta is cooking, place guanciale in a non stick pan over medium high heat. Cook for 4 to 5 minutes until golden. No oil needed – as the guanciale heats up, the fat will melt so it fries in its own fat. If using garlic, add it in the last minute.
- Pasta in pan – Tip the hot pasta into the pan and toss to coat in guanciale fat.
- Mix pasta in sauce – Transfer the pasta and any residual fat in the pan into the bowl with the egg. Add 1/2 cup (125 ml) pasta cooking water. Stir vigorously using the handle of a wooden spoon for 1 minute and watch as the sauce transforms from watery to creamy and clings to the pasta strands!
- Serve – Transfer into warm bowls. Serve immediately, garnished with a little extra parmigiana reggiano if desired, and a pinch of black pepper and finely chopped parsley.
Notes
Economical note: Use bacon instead of guanciale and parmesan instead of parmigiano reggiano for a very respectable version of carbonara that will still make Italians proud. Just don’t add cream! 😊
1. Guanciale is the cured pork traditionally used in carbonara. Sold in block form that you cut yourself, it can be found in Italian/speciality delis, Harris Farms (Syd, Brisbane) and some butchers. It’s very fatty and has a stronger flavour than pancetta and bacon. Substitute with block bacon or pancetta (so you can cut batons), or thick pre-sliced bacon. Must use streaky as sauce needs fat to thicken (read in post for why).
2. Eggs – Use large eggs (cartons labelled as such) which are 55-60g / 2oz each. See here for easy ways to use/store leftover egg whites!
3. Parmigiano reggiano is a premium aged type of parmesan. Pecorino is also commonly used. Sub parmesan. Do not use store bough pre-grated as it will not melt properly. Must finely shred it yourself!
100g/3.5oz is one tightly packed cup ie shred, put in a cup and pack it down tightly.
4. Garlic not traditional but it adds extra flavour and I can’t resist. Sorry Italy! 🙂
5. Leftovers will keep for 3 days but pasta really is always best eaten freshly made, in particular for carbonara!
Did You Make This Recipe?
How you went with my recipes? Tag me on Instagram at @PenciDesign.
