Spaghetti Carbonara

Carbonara, one of Italy’s most celebrated pasta dishes is a traditional Roman recipe, and often made incorrectly around the world. I’ll confess that for many years I was making this recipe all wrong too.  While I will frequently rave about my mother’s cooking and her wonderful recipes, I am sorry to say that her Carbonara recipe wasn’t at all traditional.  It was good (we loved it)… but it would make any Roman screw up his nose if presented with the list of ingredients. 

When I moved to Rome from Tuscany, I made it a priority to perfect my Carbonara recipe. I asked chefs, cooks, Nonnas, friends (just about everyone actually) how they made their Carbonara, and I realised that although everyone may change the quantity of each ingredient, the fundamental ingredients don’t ever change. Variations to Carbonara should never be accepted and if you do decide to add garlic, leeks, peas, mushrooms, parsley or (God forbid) cream, please give your pasta dish another name.

The origins of Carbonara are a little confusing and contentious with two main stories being told today. The first is that Carbonara was brought to Lazio from Umbria by coal men (carbonari), who came to sell charcoal to the Romans, and that it was made as a hearty meal for Italian charcoal workers. Interestingly though, the recipe for Carbonara can’t be found documented before WWII. It was first written about in 1950 when it was described in an Italian newspaper as a dish prepared for the American soldiers after the liberation of Rome in 1944. Apparently many Italians were eating the eggs and bacon supplied by American troops. I have also read that British troops wanted something to eat that reminded them of their eggs and bacon breakfast and the Italians adapted these ingredients into a pasta dish.

The only ingredients you will need to make an authentic spaghetti carbonara are Pecorino Romano, fresh free range eggs, guanciale, freshly cracked black pepper and a good quality spaghetti.

Pecorino Romano is a hard, salty cheese made from sheep’s milk and is one of Italy’s oldest cheeses. It has been documented being made 2,000 years ago and was given to Roman soldiers as part of their daily rations. The name derives from the word ‘pecora’ which is the Italian word for sheep.  The second part of the name most probably comes from the historical origins of the cheese in Ancient Rome. Today though, Pecorino Romano is produced not only in the region of Lazio, but mostly in Sardegna and also in Tuscany.  It was in 1996 that the DOP (Protected Designation of Origin) recognised the Sardinian manufacturers right to produce and aptly name their cheese ‘Pecorino Romano’.  Do not confuse Pecorino Romano with a pecorino Toscano or pecorino Sardo. These cheeses are not very salty and are usually eaten by themselves. In the United States, you may find a ‘Romano cheese’, but this isn’t the Italian Pecorino Romano that is made in Italy and protected by the laws of the European Union. The American Romano cheese is also made from cow’s milk as opposed to sheep’s milk.

The next important ingredient for any carbonara is Guanciale. The word guanciale comes from guancia, which in Italian is ‘cheek’. Guanciale is cured pork jowl or cheek.  If you can’t find guanciale, you can use pancetta (belly) and failing that I’ll allow you to use bacon. I would strongly suggest you try to find guanciale though because the flavour enhanced by the spices and peppers it is cured with is what marries so well with the Pecorino Romano to give you the genuine carbonara flavour.

Finally, please use the freshest free-range eggs you can find, and a good quality black pepper, grinding the pepper only when it is required. I can’t finish without a quick mention of the pasta.  Spend more for a high quality spaghetti that has a rough surface from being extruded through a bronze extruder.  Using an important pasta makes this pasta dish anything but ordinary, and paying a little extra on a specialty brand pasta will take your recipes to a whole new  professional dimension. 

Making Spaghetti Carbonara isn’t difficult. I’ve gotten to the point where I’d be happy to serve up a bowl of my Carbonara to any Roman without breaking out in a sweat and having an anxiety attack … and I can also say that it’ll leave you wanting to lick the bowl and break out singing, “That’s Amore”!

Spaghetti Carbonara

• 250g Spaghetti
• 200g Guanciale
• 1 egg + 2 egg yolks
• 250g finely grated Pecorino Romano Cheese
• Black Pepper (choose a good quality Black Pepper) 

1. Bring a large saucepan of water to a rolling boil, add pasta and cook respecting cooking times written on the packet, cooking pasta until it is ‘al dente’.
2. Remove the thick skin from the Guanciale with a sharp knife. Remove any hard, dried parts on the side with the peppers & spices. Cut guanciale into cubes.  Add to a large frying pan and fry over a low heat until it is crisp and golden. Turn off heat, and remove some of the guanciale to use as garnish later.
3. In a separate bowl, beat the egg and yolks with the freshly grated Pecorino Romano and a generous dose of cracked black pepper. It won’t be liquid, resembling more an egg and cheese paste.
4. Drain the pasta when ready and then return the cooked pasta to the saucepan. Add the guanciale and all the fat in the pan and stir well.
5. Ensuring the saucepan is away from the heat, add the egg and cheese mixture and stir vigorously.  The heat from the pasta will cook the egg, and the cheese and egg mixture should become a luxurious and creamy coating for your pasta.  *DO NOT stir in egg mix with saucepan over the heat otherwise it will result in a very ugly scrambled egg pasta.
6. Serve immediately with a sprinkle of freshly grated pecorino, and a little extra cracked black pepper.

Spaghetti Carbonara

La carbonara, uno dei piatti di pasta più famosi d’Italia, è una ricetta tradizionale romana, spesso preparata in modo errato in giro per il mondo. Confesso che per molti anni ho fatto anche io questa ricetta in modo sbagliato. Mentre parlo spesso della cucina di mia madre e delle sue meravigliose ricette, mi dispiace dire che la sua ricetta della Carbonara non era affatto tradizionale. Era buona (lo adoravamo) … ma avrebbe fatto storcere il naso a qualunque romano se fosse stato presentata con la lista degli ingredienti.

Quando mi sono trasferita a Roma dalla Toscana, la mia priorità era di perfezionare la ricetta della Carbonara. Ho chiesto a chef, cuochi, nonnini, amici (quasi tutti in realtà) come fanno la “loro” carbonara, e ho capito che anche se tutti possono cambiare la quantità di ogni ingrediente, gli ingredienti fondamentali non cambiano mai. Le variazioni sulla Carbonara non dovrebbero mai essere accettate, e se decidete di aggiungere aglio, porri, piselli, funghi, prezzemolo o panna, per favore date un altro nome al vostro piatto di pasta.

Le origini della Carbonara sono un po’ varie e controverse, con due versioni principali. La prima è che la Carbonara fu portata nel Lazio dall’Umbria dai carbonari, che venivano a vendere carbone di legna ai Romani, e che fu inventata come un sostanzioso pasto per i carbonai italiani. È interessante notare che la ricetta della Carbonara non è documentata prima della seconda guerra mondiale. Fu descritta per la prima volta nel 1950, in un giornale italiano, come un piatto preparato per i soldati americani dopo la liberazione di Roma nel 1944. Apparentemente molti italiani stavano mangiando uova e pancetta fornite dalle truppe americane. Ho anche letto che le truppe britanniche volevano qualcosa da mangiare che ricordasse loro le uova e bacon della colazione e che gli italiani adattassero questi ingredienti in un piatto di pasta.

Gli unici ingredienti necessari per fare un autentico piatto di spaghetti alla carbonara sono il Pecorino Romano, le uova fresche, il guanciale, il pepe nero e, ovviamente, spaghetti di buona qualità.
Il pecorino romano è un formaggio duro e salato a base di latte di pecora, ed è uno dei formaggi più antichi d’Italia. È stato documentato sin da 2000 anni fa, e veniva dato ai soldati romani come parte delle loro razioni giornaliere.  La seconda parte del nome deriva molto probabilmente dalle origini storiche del formaggio nell’antica Roma. Oggi però il Pecorino Romano viene prodotto non solo nella regione Lazio, ma soprattutto in Sardegna e anche in Toscana. Fu nel 1996 che la DOP (denominazione di origine protetta) riconobbe ai produttori sardi il diritto di produrlo e giustamente battezzò il loro formaggio “Pecorino Romano”. Non confondere Pecorino Romano con un pecorino Toscano o pecorino Sardo. Questi formaggi non sono molto salati e di solito vengono mangiati da soli.