Carbonara, the stuff of culinary dreams, has been getting a bit of a rough treatment on British dinner tables. As we ponder over what to whip up for dinner, why not consider the beloved Italian classic. But beware, straying from the authentic recipe could be sabotaging the dish’s divine flavour.
Thankfully, an Italian maestro has come to our rescue to guide us through the art of crafting the perfect carbonara without committing a gastronomic faux pas. The golden rule? Ditch the double cream. “If you were thinking of adding cream to carbonara, think again and make a cake,” Pasta Evangelists’ head pasta chef in London, Roberta d’Elia, advises.
The true sauce is a simple mix of pecorino cheese, egg yolk and a dash of black pepper. But that’s not where our culinary errors end.
If you’re tossing bacon bits or pancetta into your carbonara, you’re off track, as true Italians swear by guanciale alone. This delicacy, derived from pork jowl, gets its name from ‘guancia,’ the Italian word for cheek.
A savvy foodie has spilled the beans on making a flawless carbonara, and it all starts with some golden tips. According to Roberta, the first step is getting your meat ready by dicing it finely and setting it in a pan without any heat – ignore that hob temptation!
She insists that a cold start is key to avoid a burnt mess, aiming for a “slowly melt” effect over gentle heat to crispen up the guanciale, ensuring all the porky goodness doesn’t go to waste, as you’ll need that rendered fat later on.
For that rich, creamy sauce, it’s essential to grate a heap of Pecorino cheese and whip in egg yolks – stick to one yolk per diner. A good crack of black pepper comes next, then blend them into a thick paste with a fork.
This paste gets its silky texture from adding a few dollops of the warm guanciale fat. Grab your cooking cap – here’s where it heats up. Scoop out the cooked guanciale and leave the remaining fat alone.
Before you slam-dunk all your spaghetti into the water, here’s a tip straight from the heart: for pasta with bite, a short boil and a dip in the guanciale pan with a ladle of the starchy water will do wonders.
Keep it moving and splash a bit more water if necessary until the spaghetti is perfectly al dente. The starch from the pasta will be released into the water, making the spaghetti beautifully creamy without the need for any cream.
Once the pasta is perfectly al dente, take the pan off the heat before you move on to the next steps. “If you try and put the eggs in the pan on the hob, you’ll end up with a frittata instead of carbonara,” Roberta warns.
Next, toss the guanciale through the spaghetti, then pour in the egg mixture. If it seems a bit stiff, loosen it with a splash of the pasta cooking water.
To serve your authentic carbonara, top it with extra guanciale, more grated pecorino, and a generous twist of black pepper. And voilà, buon appetito! A scrumptious, cream-free carbonara awaits.
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