Quick and Easy Pasta Carbonara
I LOVE Pasta Carbonara… We had it several times when we were in Italy and fell in love since. It’s definitely a very rich dish so if you’re looking for a healthy meal, this is not it! We were always a little hesitant to make this dish as it consists of a sauce that’s mostly raw eggs. We were worried that we may accidentally make scrambled egg pasta instead of Pasta Carbonara but luckily, it’s a lot easier than we thought. This is a quick and easy pasta carbonara that can be whipped up in less than 20 minutes.
The dish only requires 6 ingredients, most of which you should already have in your pantry:
- Eggs
- Pasta (we used Spaghetti)
- Parmigiano-Reggiano
- Freshly Ground Black Pepper
- Guanciale/Pancetta
- Olive Oil
The star of this recipe here is the Guanciale, which is cured pork jowl (i.e. neck). The surface is seasoned with an assortment of salt and spices (e.g. pepper, sage, rosemary, and garlic) and it’s known for its high fat content that is extremely flavourful.
Most authentic Carbonara recipes call for Guanciale but if you have difficulty locating this (often found at an Italian grocery store or delicatessen) , you can swap it for Pancetta or even Bacon.
This is an extremely easy dish and you can make it in less than half an hour! It’s extremely important that you have your mise en place ready (i.e. have all your ingredients ready, portioned/measured, ready to use) as once we start cooking, everything moves fairly quickly.
How to Make Quick and Easy Pasta Carboanara
Cook Pasta
To start, cook your pasta in a large pot filled with generously seasoned salt water. Cook until al dente per your pasta’s cooking instructions. For us, we used Spaghetti.
Crisp up your guanciale
While your pasta is cooking, we can cook our chopped up guanciale in a large sauce pan over medium high heat to help it crisp up and render out all the wonderful fat.
You may end up with a lot of rendered fat in the pan. If this is too much for you, feel free to pour out the excess fat for later use but be sure to keep some in the pan as we will need this later. Once the guanciale is crispy, turn off your stove and remove the pan from the heat to prevent it from burning.
Prepare Carbonara Sauce
Meanwhile, prepare your carbonara sauce which consists of whisking together your 2 eggs, 1 egg yolk, freshly grated Parmigiano-Reggiano, and freshly ground black pepper. It should end up looking really thick and chunky.
Assemble
Once your pasta is done cooking, strain the pasta and add the cooked pasta directly into your sauce pan where your crispy guanciale is along with the rendered guanciale fat. Using a pair of tongs, toss the pasta in the pan to ensure it is fully covered in the guanciale fat. If you have some extra rendered fat which you strained and you want to add more, this is the time to do it while the pasta is still hot.
Once fully coated, allow the pasta to cool down slightly (approximately a minute). You can continue to toss the pasta in the pan to help the heat dissipate faster.
Once the heat has dissipated a bit, add in your carbonara sauce (i.e. egg mixture) and toss your pasta to fully coat in the sauce. The residual heat from the cooked pasta will melt the Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese in the sauce and slightly cook the egg in the egg sauce. This will ultimately thicken the carbonara sauce, helping it adhere better to the pasta.
You are now ready to serve! Eat this while it is still hot. Feel free to add in more freshly ground black pepper and grated paremsan cheese to taste. Let us now how yours turned out in the comments below!
Quick and Easy Pasta Carbonara
Ingredients
- 200g Spaghetti (or pasta of your choice)
- 25g Guanciale (pork cheek) or pancetta (Italian bacon) cut into small cubes.
- 1 tbsp olive oil
- 2 eggs + 1 egg yolk (room temperature)
- 40g Parmigiano-Reggiano (or Pecorino Romano), freshly grated.
- Freshly ground black pepper.
Instructions
- 1. In a large pot, generously salt your water and cook your pasta until al-dente per your pasta’s cooking instructions.
- 2. While your pasta is cooking, add olive oil to a large sauce pan over medium high heat and cook your chopped guanciale/pancetta until it is nice and crispy. This process will render a lot of fat. Feel free to drain out any excess fat to use for other cooking purposes but leave a little bit behind as this will be used to coat the pasta for extra flavour. Once the guanciale/pancetta is nice and crispy, remove the pan from heat and turn off your stove.
- 3. Whisk together your 2 eggs + 1 egg yolk in a large bowl and add in your freshly grated Parmesan cheese and a generous amount of freshly ground black pepper (to your taste). You will end up with a very thick mixture.
- 4. Once your pasta is fully cooked, strain your pasta and add your cooked pasta into your pan with the crispy pancetta and generously coat the pasta with its residual rendered fat using a pair of tongs.
- 5. Allow the pasta to cool slightly (about a minute) to help the heat from the cooked pasta dissipate a bit. Then, add in your egg sauce mixture over the pastas and generously coat the pasta in this sauce. The residual heat from the cooked pasta should melt the cheese and cook the egg sauce slightly, helping it thicken. Once this is done, your pasta is ready to serve! Feel free to add more grated cheese and black pepper to taste. Enjoy immediately!
