Spaghetti Carbonara: The Authentic Italian Recipe (No Cream)
Creamy, silky spaghetti carbonara made the Italian way with eggs, cheese, black pepper and crispy guanciale or pancetta. No cream, 20 minutes.
Published
- Prep
- 5 min
- Cook
- 15 min
- Total
- 20 min
- Servings
- 4
Authentic carbonara has just five ingredients and no cream. The trick is tossing hot pasta with the egg mixture off the heat, so it turns into a silky sauce instead of scrambled eggs.
Ingredients
- 400 g (14 oz) spaghetti
- 150 g (5 oz) guanciale or pancetta, cut into strips
- 4 egg yolks + 1 whole egg
- 60 g (¾ cup) finely grated pecorino romano
- 20 g (¼ cup) finely grated parmesan
- Plenty of freshly ground black pepper
Instructions
- Cook the spaghetti in salted boiling water (a little less salt than usual: the cheese and guanciale are salty). Save a cup of pasta water.
- Meanwhile, cook the guanciale in a large dry pan over medium heat for 6–8 minutes until crisp. Turn off the heat.
- Whisk the yolks, egg, cheeses and lots of black pepper into a thick paste.
- Add the drained pasta to the pan with the guanciale and toss. Let it cool for 1 minute off the heat.
- Pour in the egg mixture with a splash of pasta water and toss quickly until creamy and glossy. Add more pasta water if needed. Serve at once with more pecorino and pepper.
Nutrition per serving
- kcal
- 675
- Protein
- 28 g
- Carbs
- 71 g
- Fat
- 29 g
Tips
- The pan must be off the heat when the eggs go in, or they scramble.
- Real carbonara has no cream: the creaminess comes from eggs, cheese and pasta water.
- No guanciale or pancetta? Smoked bacon works; for a pork-free version use beef bacon or smoked turkey.
