Authentic Italian Carbonara is an easy meal that tastes restaurant worthy every time! Carbonara: silky creamy egg and cheese sauce drown delicious pasta then dressed with mouthwatering crispy pancetta or bacon and blessed with a sprinkle of fresh Parmigiano and black pepper. This meal is all you need to satisfy you pasta craving. The best part? Ready in under 20 minutes. Mangia!
My mother calls this dish “the meal that saves lives!” Why? It’s easy, filling, tastes super bombastic, and it can feed a crowd. Whenever I would bring friends to dinner last minute this was a go-to- meal. It even tastes fancy enough for dinner guest. All and all it’s a must make! If you are vegetarian sauté mushroom or asparagus with butter or olive oil and use the same method.
Made with Amore,
Elena
Tips for the PERFECT PASTA CARBONARA.
Follow these easy steps and achieve the perfect restaurant style pasta of your dreams!
Use Room Temperature Eggs…
This might seem nerdy, but paying attention to the temperature of your eggs will help get your sauce smooth and light. … Cold eggs can lead to clumps in your sauce, and we didn’t sign up for any clumps.
Use Freshly Grated Parmigiano…
I wrote an entire article on this. Read and you will see why!
Whisk . Whisk. Whisk. …
Whisking your eggs so that the whites are completely incorporated into the yolks will give your sauce a more uniform texture. Think of scrambled eggs- uniform in consistency.
Save Pan Drippings
After frying the pancetta, guanciale, or bacon save a couple tablespoons of the grease in the pan. This will help the sauce come together in the end!
Don’t Stir Pasta Directly On The Heat…
This is where most people mess up carbonara. You cannot mix the pasta and eggs over heat. Don’t. Do. It. The residual heat from the pasta is what sets the eggs to create that velvety sauce, not the heat from the pan. So, turn the heat under the pot off completely before mixing in the egg and cheese mixture, you also need to physically move the pot off of the burner
Add Your Eggs Immediately After Pasta is Done (But Slowly)…
The pasta needs to be as hot as possible to cook the eggs and set the sauce. But don’t pour it all in at once. Add the sauce gradually, so it has a chance to thicken.
Keep the Pasta Moving. …
While pouring, make sure that the sauce is being distributed evenly so every inch of pasta is coated in that velvety eggy cheesy sauce.
Authentic Italian Carbonara: When it’s good, it can make your eyes roll back in your head with pleasure. It is a simple and traditional highlight on most Italian restaurant menus. When you don’t order it, you usually end up wishing you had.
Do you ever make it at home? Seems easy enough, right? It’s basically just bacon, eggs, and pasta. But like most things with few ingredients, there is a technique that binds all the magic together, and if you don’t have really great ingredients and a grasp of a few key pieces of technique, you’ll be let down — possibly with scrambled eggs on your pasta.
Lidia Bastianch says, the dish originally comes from the Apennine hills of central Italy near Rome and was a shepherd’s favorite. As they meandered in the pastures with their flocks, they carried bacon, made cheese as they went, and only used eggs if they were lucky enough to have some.
Bring this meal to your table and decide for yourself…
Make with Amore, Elena
Mangia! Mangia! (eat)
More Delicious Pasta Recipes for YOU
Let’s make Carbonara in 30 seconds…
Authentic Pasta Carbonara- Italian Recipe
- Prep Time: 5 min
- Cook Time: 15 min
- Total Time: 20 min
- Yield: 6 servings 1x
- Category: Savory
- Method: Italian
- Cuisine: Italian
Description
My mother calls this dish “the meal that saves lives!” Why? It’s easy, filling, tastes super bombastic, and it can feed a crowd. Whenever I would bring friends to dinner last minute this was a go-to- meal. It even tastes fancy enough for dinner guest. All and all it’s a must make! If you are vegetarian sauté mushroom or asparagus with butter or olive oil and use the same method. Mangia! Mangia!
Ingredients
- 4 eggs (MUST BE room temperature)
- 2 cups freshly grated Parmigiano cheese
- Coarsely ground black pepper
- 1 lb (16 oz) of pancetta, guanciale, or bacon, sliced into pieces about 1/4 inch thick by 1/3 inch square
- 1 lb (454 grams) of pasta of choice
Instructions
- Place a large pot of salted water (no more than 2 tablespoon salt per 500 gr pasta) over high heat, and bring to a boil.
- In a mixing bowl, whisk together the eggs until very well combined and smooth. Add the parmigiano and mix to incorporate.
- Meanwhile, fry bacon in a pan, on the edge of crispness but not hard. Remove bacon from pan and set aside. Save a couple tablespoons of bacon grease in pan (if there is too much remove some). Take pan off heat and wait to reuse.
- Add pasta to the water and boil until a bit firmer than al dente. Reserve 1/2 cup of pasta water (in case you need it), then drain pasta. Add pasta to the bacon pan (heat OFF and bacon removed). SLOWLY, a little at a time, stir in cheese and egg mixture, adding some reserved pasta water if needed for added creaminess. After a creamy texture is achieved add the bacon and incorporate into the pasta and sauce.
- Serve immediately, dressing it with a bit of additional grated cheese and pepper.
Notes
Serve Hot! Optional: top with a little chili pepper flakes.
Keywords: pasta, carbonara, pasta carbonara, eggs, bacon, pancetta, parmigiano, easy dinner, easy meal, Italian food, authentic Italian
There are 9 comments
I made this the other night and the whole family raved! Everyone had multiple servings. Easy to make and filling.
Bree, I am so happy. It’s the best!
Made this for my family one night and have already made it twice more, since! So, so delicious, and it makes a whole heap of pasta. We had it for dinner and then lunch the next day, too! Also, my sister said it tasted even better the next day.
This has been added to the top of our roster for easy and delicious dinner meals. Thank you!!
Grace, I’m so happy to hear that! It is a delicious go to meal!
Wow I made it for dinner tonight and it is amazing! Such a great recipe and easy to follow.
Rachel,
I am so happy you loved it!!
So many more good ones to try.
Happy cooking and baking,
Elena
Love this quick and easy recipe. Since I’m a vegetarian I split the pasta and egg and cheese mixture and put bacon in one pan and veggies in the other (I’ve used peas as well as asparagus, really any veggie that needs to be used that’s in the fridge).
★★★★★
Do you put the pasta straight in with the cooked bacon and grease or drain the grease first?
Hi! I like to keep some of the grease to create a little coating on the pasta. If you prefer, you may drain it and you will still get excellent results.
– Elena