NATIONAL CARBONARA DAY
On April 6th, enjoy the flavors of Italy and celebrate National Carbonara Day!
If you love Italian food, pasta or just enjoy cooking, this food holiday challenges you to put your best recipe to the test. As purists, we turn up our noses at bacon, any other cheeses then Pecorino Romano and anything green!
No matter how you make your carbonara, get in on the taste test.
In Texas, with Verona, Seila and Steve, USA, making homemade tagliatelle and carbonara!
Spaghetti Carbonara, one of the most famous Pasta Recipes of Roman Cuisine, made only with 5 simple ingredients: spaghetti (or tagliatelle like in our case), seasoned with browned guanciale, black pepper, pecorino Romano and beaten eggs.
If you read this recipe thoroughly, you will see that there are many Pasta Carbonara variations, even here in Italy, but they are…variations of the authentic recipe. Which is very simple and fast to make. The only difficulty is to make sure that the eggs do not cook so much to look like scrambled eggs or too little to be raw and cold.
How to Make Spaghetti Carbonara Traditional Recipe
Prep Time: 20 Min Cook Time: 10 Min Yields : 4
Ingredients
350 g (12 oz) of spaghetti
200 g (7 oz) of guanciale
4 whole eggs (1 egg each yeld)
100 g (3,50 oz) of grated Pecorino Romano cheese
ground black pepper
Step 1) –Browning the guanciale. Cut the guanciale into small pieces (cubes) then simmer in a frying pan over medium heat. No need for oil: guanciale is already fat, greasy and fabulous of its own. If you want, you can add a tablespoon of cooking water and emulsify, in this way you will create a great fat sauce to season spaghetti properly. When ready, turn off the heat and set aside.
Step 2)–Making eggs-pecorino sauce. Whisk the Pecorino Romano (which is a very salty and tasty Italian cheese so there’s no need to add salt) with the eggs and a little bit of ground black pepper. Stir quickly with a fork – or a hand whisk – until you get a creamy sauce. Set aside.
Step 3) – Cook the spaghetti al dente in boiling salted water (one liter of water for every 100 g / 3,50 oz of pasta and 15 g / 0,50 oz of coarse salt per liter of water), following the cooking time found on the pasta packaging. If they don’t fit in the pan, the best way is to hold them in a bunch vertically and immerse. Let go and they will fall out in all directions and as they soften, with the help of a fork let them sink. Then stir and cook for the time required.
Step 4) – Drain when they are ready then put them in the frying pan, over high heat, to season it properly with the fat of the guanciale.
At this point, we have reached the crucial moment of spaghetti carbonara; not to put tension on it, but this is the fleeting moment in which you can make an immortal dish or one that will be a real failure.
You will have to be quick, ready and ruthless. Here’s how to do it
Step 5) – When the spaghetti and guanciale are sizzling in the pan, TURN OFF THE HEAT, otherwise the eggs cook too much and you’ll find yourself with scrambled eggs and spaghetti! Now quickly add the eggs and pecorino cream and stir. The pan is warm but not hot so that the eggs will cook without lump.
Step 6) – Pay attention to the consistency, which must be creamy, but not fluid. If you notice that it’s too liquid, add some pecorino. Spaghetti carbonara is ready. Serve immediately. So with the help of a ladle and a fork, create a pasta nest and place it on a plate.
Step 7) – Add guanciale (the ones left in the pan), ground black pepper and grated pecorino cheese to taste.
Guanciale or Pancetta?
Pancetta in carbonara pasta should not be used. Guanciale is pure magic and if you remove its golden fat, carbonara becomes flat and dull. The reason is the intrinsic quality of the ingredients: guanciale has flavor and fat, pancetta is drier.
Guanciale is an Italian cured meat product made with pork jowl or cheeks. Its name comes from guancia, Italian for cheek, sometimes translated with pork cheek lard or jowl bacon. Salted and peppered, it’s left to mature for 3 months.
Many people use pancetta in carbonara pasta, sometimes because it’s easier to find it on the market, but more often they use it because guanciale is a rather fat meat and there is no doubt that it is a hyper caloric ingredient.
The final risult!!!! OMG we love Carbonara and Monte Chiaro Wines!!!!