Best Spaghetti Carbonara

5 from 1 vote

Prep Time20

Cook Time15

Course: Main Course

Cuisine: Italian

Keyword: duck eggs, garlic, pancetta, parmesan cheese, pecorino cheese, spaghetti

Servings: people

Calories: 672kcal

Author: Chief Cook and Bottle Washer

100 g Pancetta roughly chopped, but with no rind on it
50 g Pecorino Cheese finely grated (this is what will take the prep time!)
50 g Parmesan Cheese finely grated (this is what will take the prep time!)
350 g Spaghetti it must be spaghetti for this, no other pasta will do ... and avoid the 'quick cook' spaghetti, it is just wrong!
2 cloves Garlic peeled and bashed but still whole
50 g Butter
3 large Eggs beaten
Salt
Black Pepper

Put a large saucepan of water on to boil and add a teaspoon of salt to it. Normally pasta cooking water should almost taste like sea water but it would make the dish too salty in this case
Mix the beaten eggs with the cheese and set aside. Keep a little cheese back for garnish later
When the water is boiling add the spaghetti and cook for 1 minute less than the instructions say (you aren't quite finished cooking the pasta when you reach this point)
Meanwhile, melt the butter in a deep sided frying pan or wok and then fry the pancetta with the bruised garlic for about 5 minutes until the pancetta is beginning to crisp up and go golden. At this point turn the heat to low and discard the garlic - it has done its job in imparting its flavour
When the pasta is cooked use tongs or a pasta fork (or any other device you like to lift pasta out of the boiling water with!) and drop it into the pan with the pancetta. Don't worry about dropping a bit of pasta water with it, you want this!
Take the pan off the heat and give everything a good mix. Now add the cheese and egg mixture and quickly toss the pasta in it so that everything is coated. Add about 2-3 tablespoons of the pasta water and give it a mix to keep it creamy and glossy
Serve immediately sprinkle with the cheese you kept back and a good twist of black pepper. Enjoy!