One of my favorite pasta dishes is spaghetti alla carbonara. This Roman dish – whose origins are disputed (we’ll talk about that tonight) – is super easy to make, especially if you know a few tricks. It’s also super comforting: it’s basically breakfast-for-dinner (eggs, bacon, cheese) + pasta! What could be better?
We’re going to use a recipe from Serious Eats as a guide, check it out here: https://www.seriouseats.com/recipes/2015/12/pasta-carbonara-sauce-recipe.html
That will give you the basic ingredients that you’ll need. I know that you may not have everything and that’s ok! You can substitute any kind of pasta if you don’t have spaghetti (I’m going to use buccatini – my favorite long pasta) and can use any cured meat product (including bacon) if you don’t have pancetta (or even leave it out for vegetarian version)! Regardless, you should have the ingredients prepped and ready to go. One addition – if you have it – will be a couple of cloves of minced garlic.
From an ingredient perspective you’ll need:
1 lb. of pasta (preferably a long shape like spaghetti or bucatini but anything will work), 3-4 oz. of pancetta, bacon (chopped), or guanciale, 6-8 eggs, 1-2 oz. of parmesan or pecorino, 1-2 cloves of garlic, olive oil, S&P
From an equipment perspective you’ll need:
A pot to cook the pasta in (and a strainer), a pan to saute the pork-y product in, a heat proof bowl (e.g. something porcelain or ceramic), tongs, and serving bowls
Here’s the finished product!
