Authentic Carbonara is an easy meal that tastes restaurant worthy every time!
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

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 and Mangia! Mangia! (eat)
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Pasta Carbonara- Traditional Style
- 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!
Scale
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, and Parmigiano until well combined
- Meanwhile, fry bacon in a pan, on the edge of crispness but not hard. Remove from heat and set aside.
- Add pasta to the water and boil until a bit firmer than al dente. Reserve 1 cup of pasta water, then drain pasta and add pasta to the skillet over low heat. Stir for a minute or so.
- Stir in cheese and egg mixture, adding some reserved pasta water if needed for creaminess. Serve immediately, dressing it with a bit of additional grated cheese and pepper.
Notes
Serve Hot! Optional: top with a little chili pepper flakes.
There are 6 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