Traditional Spaghetti Carbonara Recipe (2024)

Spaghetti Carbonara, one of the most famous Pasta Recipes of Roman Cuisine, is made only with 5 simple ingredients: spaghetti seasoned with browned guanciale, black pepper, pecorino Romano and beaten eggs.

In the authentic Italian recipe for carbonara, the ingredients are very few and of excellent quality. The high quality of ingredients is a necessary condition for the success of this recipe.

Instructions

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Storage

Serve Spaghetti carbonara immeditely, hot and tasty as they are. We do not recommend storing carbonara leftovers in the refrigerator or freezer for the following days.

Make the carbonara and enjoy it freshly made!

Subtitutions

Guanciale or Pancetta?

You should not use pancetta in carbonara. 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.

Today we've shown you the traditional Roman recipe of spaghetti carbonara, where the guanciale is the top ingredient. In fact, the taste, the fat, we could say the juice of the seasoning comes from this little jewel of Italian culinary art.

Many people use pancetta in pasta carbonara. 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's a hyper caloric ingredient.

Spaghetti carbonara with pancetta is a variation of the traditional recipe.

Pecorino Romano or Parmigiano Reggiano?

The traditional recipe of spaghetti alla carbonara is an Italian recipe whose origins are from Lazio.

The recipe calls for pecorino romano because it's a cheese born in Lazio, while Parmigiano reggiano belongs to another region: Emilia Romagna. So you can definitely use Parmigiano Reggiano in your carbonara, but know that it's a variation of the classic pasta carbonara.

As with all the dishes of traditional Italian cuisine, there are several variations to the Spaghetti Carbonara authentic recipe. Now we'll show you some of these variations: what to add and what to take away from the traditional ingredients and why.

Variations

• CREAM: Many people like to make carbonara with cream, made by replacing 1 egg with 1 dl (about ½ cup) of heavy cream. For them, the dish is creamier and has a less pronounced egg flavor. Well, you shouldn't use whipping cream to make the dish creamier. For the simple reason that the fat from the guanciale, the cheese and the eggs are already quite creamy and heavy by nature. So adding the cream would only make the dish heavier and more cloying. On the other hand, it's true that if you're making large quantities of pasta (say, for 10 people), a dash of heavy cream can help make the sauce more fluid. But it must remain a secret. And it's a makeshift solution. Tricks in the kitchen, but only for desperate times!
• PARMIGIANO REGGIANO: Even for what concerns the cheese, there are those who use Parmigiano cheese instead of Pecorino Romano or half Parmigiano cheese and half Pecorino Romano. In this case the taste becomes less strong and flavorful (pecorino Romano is a very tasty cheese). Allowed.
• PANCETTA: Guanciale, which comes from the cheek of the pork, can be replaced with pancetta, which instead comes from the fatty part of the belly pork. Pancetta is drier and less fat. If you use pancetta (possibly not smoked), add a tablespoon of oil to cook it.
• GARLIC OR ONION: Many people like to simmer the guanciale with a clove of garlic or a little onion. I don’t know…carbonara tastes a lot of onion and garlic…another recipe for another time.
• PARSLEY: Do not put parsley everywhere…

Origins

Pasta Carbonarais a Roman recipe but it surely is a recent one, since it has been heard of it only after the Second World War. Its origin is somewhat controversial, and there are at least three plausible theories.

Pasta dishes seasoned with products of pastoralism and agriculture (such as eggs and pancetta or lard) were common in the Abruzzo mountains. It seems that some displaced people have discovered them and brought to Rome at the end of the Second World War.

A second hypothesis says that in the Roman taverns the owners seasoned the pasta with Carbonara Sauce to feed the American soldiers because they knew that at breakfast they ate eggs and bacon. Given the success, the recipe has spread.

The third hypothesis says that Pasta Carbonara was prepared in the Roman taverns all along, but only after the Second World War the recipe became known to the general public, because it came into the printed cookbooks.

Now you know all the tricks to make a perfect carbonara recipe. So come on! Let’s start cooking!

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