Classic Pasta Carbonara is pure Italian comfort food! Creamy eggs, briny bacon or pancetta, fresh parmesan cheese, and spaghetti are all it takes to make this Italian classic. And the best part is it will be on your table and ready to eat in under 30 minutes!
Classic Pasta Carbonara
Ingredients
- 1 lb spaghetti
- 6 eggs
- 5-6 pieces of bacon, diced
- 1/2 cup freshly grated parmesan cheese
- salt and pepper
Instructions
- Bring a large pot of water to a boil, adding enough sea salt to make the water taste like ocean water. Once it is boiling, add your spaghetti noodles.
- While the pasta is cooking, dice the bacon or pancetta and cook it in a skillet. Once it is cooked, remove with a slotted spoon and set it aside.
- Crack 5 eggs into a large bowl. Stir gently to break the yolks and combine.
- Drain the pasta once it is done making sure to SAVE THE COOKING WATER.
- Add the grated parmesan to the eggs and stir to combine.
- Without any heat, slowly add 1/4 a cup of pasta water at a time to the egg mixture, stirring constantly. You'll want the cheese to melt and the sauce to become glossy. In all, you'll add about 1/2 cup of the hot pasta water but if the sauce seems too thick, you can gradually add a tablespoon or two more.
- Combine the pasta and egg mixture and stir well so all the noodles are coated. Top with the bacon or pancetta and stir again to combine. Add a good amount of freshly cracked black pepper and stir again.
I’m a firm believer that some food can be life-changing. A perfectly made dish of carbonara is one of those things! I have this obsession with trying it at any Italian restaurant and I usually base my opinion of the restaurant on the quality of the carbonara. And if its made table-side in a huge wheel of parmesan – PURE happiness!!
Since I don’t have wheels of cheese at my house, I have to do the best I can. I’ve learned a few things about the “correct” way to make Classic Pasta Carbonara at home after making many, many messes of clumpy, egg-baked versions. A silky sauce is key to the most delicious pasta. Read on to find out how I make my version.
A few notes on how to make Classic Pasta Carbonara:
- The most important part of carbonara is the sauce! Make sure to save your pasta water as it is what will be used to combine the sauce ingredients and make a beautiful, glossy sauce.
- Make sure you don’t use any heat besides the pasta water on your eggs. Heat will cause the eggs to cook and will leave you with scrambled egg pasta!
- There is a constant debate about whether pancetta or bacon should be used in carbonara. True Italian style is definitely pancetta so use it if you have it. I always have bacon in my fridge so I use it instead.
- This is an “eat immediately” dish! It does not sit around well!
Turned out great! Thanks!
So glad you loved it!