🛒 Ingredients
- 400g spaghetti
- 200g guanciale (or cured pancetta)
- 4 yolks + 1 whole egg
- 100g grated Pecorino Romano
- 50g grated Parmesan
- Abundant black pepper
- Salt for the water
👨🍳 Step-by-step instructions
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Cook pasta in very salty water al dente — save 200ml cooking water
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Brown guanciale in a skillet without oil over medium heat until crispy
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Mix yolks with cheese and abundant black pepper
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Remove skillet from heat, add drained pasta
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Add yolk mixture off the heat
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Add cooking water little by little until silky cream forms
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Never over direct heat: yolks will scramble
💡 Chef's tip
Temperature is everything: the skillet must be off the heat when adding the yolks.
📝 Our take
Carbonara without cream is a flavor revolution compared to the version most people know. Guanciale is non-negotiable: its fat renders differently from bacon, silkier, with less acidity. The yolk and Pecorino emulsion creates a cream that the residual heat of the pasta finishes building. Once you taste it this way, there is no going back.
🍷 Wine & food pairing
A Frascati or Grechetto from the Castelli Romani, the wine region of Rome. Dry, slightly mineral, without exaggerated fruit.
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