The 'proper' egg ratio is 1 egg for each person plus 1 egg for the pot. That's how I was taught to make it when I was living in Rome. It's also nice to add a little grated Romano on the top of each serving at the very end. That way, each person gets to how much cheese they want. Or, even use parmigiano (horrors!), if that's their preference. Also, I never found the need to add any pasta water to the sauce. We just left the pasta a little wet when draining it. Worked perfectly. Having said that, this recipe is the real deal. In many US Italian restaurants, 'carbonara' means a garlicky cheese sauce.
And some commit the ultimate crime by using cream. This dish has a very well defined origin in Rome and sprouted out of the need to feed workers with a filling tasty meal that is prepared quickly. Simple in ingredients but one of the most difficult meals to get right.
I finish the egg/cheese sauce over low heat with the pasta water. Keep mixing it over low heat for about a minute or so (low heat!) - it literally turns the sauce into a cream like consistency.
Super easy to make, just made this a couple days ago. You can substitute pancetta for guanciale, and even bacon for pancetta. And parmesan for pecorino, but not the crap out of a bottle. Real parm.
If you have a Whole Foods or an actual Italian market you’ll find the guanciale and pecorino, otherwise the pancetta and parmigiana reggiano works well, but make sure it’s the good “parmigiana reggiano” not just the Kraft Parmesan - that won’t do
This is one of my go-to quick cooks for dinner. Ready in less than 15 minutes. Also one of my most favorite pasta dishes. Pecorino really is a must for authentic flavor, but Parmigianino Reggiano is more readily available and work, too. I have also used bacon when guanciale or pancetta is not available.
i always wondered what’s the difference between adding parmesan cheese vs pecorino for carbonara after watching many other videos about this dish (i don’t eat many cheese), you’re the first to point it out! thanks!!
Do not forget to taste the meat beforehand. If you use pancetta instead, it can be super salty and in that case you definitely should not add any salt (the cheese is obviously also salty).
Well, they don't sell all the ingredients where I live, unfortunately. So, I have made it with substitutes, and it was still fabulous. Next time I drive to the big city I'll have to shop for them and try it out with the better ingredients. I love both Carbonara and Cacio e Pepe.
If you really want to know what the traditional recipe tastes like, you can sub in pancetta, but parmesan is a no-go. It'll taste ok, but it will be very different from a carbonara made with pecorino romano.
I live in the NE U.S., so real Pecorino Romano is available here, but I wonder how the availability is anywhere else? But absolutely, Parmesan is not a sub for Romano in this dish and most others as well. Some people mix Parm and Romano but I don't
Folks if you can't find those meats, buy pork jowls bacon, put in a bowl uncovered in the fridge for a week to dry, can use fresh jowls bacon but not as good, but both will work
I have a subscription to cooks country. There are so many versions of this on the website. I'm just looking for the amount of pancetta used here. What is this recipe titled online?
Consider (per the Chef at Luciano Cucina Italiana in Rome): If you mix your Pecorino Romano with Grana Padano (2 parts PR to 1 part GP), your carbonara will be a little less salty and a bit creamier (regardless, I can't imagine adding any add'l salt as Pecorino is very salty).
Don’t put the pasta in water until you’ve mastered the rest…It’ll overcook as you crash about. Guanchale is great if you can find it in U.S. Don’t sub in pancetta. Get thick cut bacon and cut in half…use the fatty half of the strips for carbonara, save the leaner half for actual bacon. Get the eggs and Romano (NOT PARMESAN) cheese sorted. Then cook noodles and follow rest of video. Binders and chemicals are weird in U.S. If the creamy sauce you should be making ‘breaks’, use half a slice of American/Kraft cheese to force the emulsion.
Excellent, but first trim the tough skin from the guanchale. Also, you may want to view the preparation technique used by Chef Luciano Monosilio. He combines the eggs and cheese over a double boiler and whisks the mixture to make it creamier (the "Zabaglione method"). He then takes the rendered fat from the guanchale and whisks it into the egg and cheese mixture (the "Hollandaise method"). He also tempers the egg mixture with pasta water while it is in the double-boiler.
@@angelatruly He is on RU-vid. Just do a general search. He has several videos regarding Chef Monosilio's Carbonara technique. Try this one: ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-QA6_rLrFTwc.html
Our local Italian market stocks guanciali, but I had never used it. I got some and used a parmesan-ricotta mixture I had in the fridge. Omitted extra salt. Delicious but sent me into a trance-like nap. :D
With the amount of guanciale used, I would reserve some of the grease. Too much and the pasta will go from rich to greasy. Perhaps only 60% of the fat that rendered out while the rest could be put aside for later use in another dish or seasoning for a cast iron.
I tried this last week and I messed it up by not trusting the process. Take the pan off of any heat when adding the egg. Otherwise you will have scramed egg pasta
Same. They lost a lot of the flavor on the bottom of the pan which would have added more wonderful flavor if they had added the wet pasta directly from the pot to the pan instead of draining the pasta.
And not wait until the pasta is done before doing so, it will still keep cooking in the pan and until you eat it and if you want it to be al dente when you eat it, you have to stop cooking it earlier.
@@-NoneOfYourBusiness Ditto, pick the pasta ú with tongs and add directly to the skillet... just the right amount of water and no chance of having to turn the heat back on because the pasta didn't have a chance to cool off during the transfer.
My favorite Italian dish and I have had it all over Italy. Every restaurant was great, but in Roma....words just can't express how good. I would never have it where I live in the US or at a chain as it is not authentic AND folks probably think of it as fat and salty. Why? Because they almost always use heavy cream and smoked meats. Try this recipe or book a trip.
Looks delicious but I could feel my arteries constricting from all that pork fat. I know, I don't have to make it and I won't be making it but I can enjoy it vicariously through the video.
Depends on the mass of the cookware you are using. If you are using something that will loose the heat quickly you may want to add heat, but be very gentle with it. :-)
If you are cooking an entire pound like in the video, in a heavy pot, the residual heat might be enough. I've been making this a very similar way myself and when it's just one serving (1/4 lb. pasta) I usually have to turn the heat back on. Scrape the bottom and sides with a heat-safe silicone spatula continuously until the sauce becomes creamy.
You need to cut the skin ind off of the guanciale. It becomes tough and chewy when it's cooked. Olive oil is not needed. Guanciale is cooked on low heat and it will render it's fat. It's the only lipid you need. If cooked properly the guanciale should be crisp, no almost crisp, on the outside and still tender on the inside. Don't drain the pasta. Use tongs or a pasta scoop and transfer it directly into the pan of guanciale. You WANT the pasta to be wet. You do not need to add pasta water to the egg\cheese mixture if the past is taken directly from the water and mixed with the guanciale. The combining of the pasta\guanciale with the egg\cheese should be done off the heat or you'll end up with scrambled eggs. If the sauce is too thin, add some of the starchy pasta water to help it thicken. DO NOT make extra and think it will be okay as leftovers. It won't. Carbonara is meant to be served immediately. If you're cooking for two people, make two servings only.
They get so many things wrong in this recipe, one would think their researchers are stuck in the kitchen and never visit Italy. They lost me first with leaving the rind on the guanciale and cutting it in CUBES. And then, adding olive oil to the guanciale. Are you kidding me? Many Italian chefs believe it is blasphemy to add olive oil to the guanciale, because olive oil can easily ruin the flavor of the guanciale fat. On top of that, YOU DON'T NEED THE EXTRA FAT! If cooked properly, the guanciale will render the secret ingredient: its own fat. When it comes to authentic Italian dishes, especially the classics, viewers simply can't rely on ATK. They are brain dead and seriously misinformed.
The modern version used whole eggs and yokes. The classic version would use just whole eggs (less wasteful). It's also nice if you toast (some of) your pepper in the oil to bloom the flavours before adding extra at the end to taste.
Some ppl use a fork and twirl pasta against the bowl/dish to get a nice forkful. When you have just a flat plate, some ppl find it easier or prefer to hold the spoon, and use that to twirl a bite of pasta onto their fork.
I think the chef here is correct that proportions are very critical… I’ve made it many times, just winging it, and sometimes it’s great with the sauce a very unique glossy creaminess that is so appealing and other times it’s good, not great, and maybe more mac ‘n cheese like.
The fun starts at the first step... 1tbsp of salt into 3,75 litres of water for cooking dried pasta? -make that 2 1/4, at least... it ain't health food after all. Cold pan method... fine, but no extra fat. And you needed to have that going before adding the pasta to the water, once the fat has rendered and the guanciale/pancetta is to your liked crispyness, it can wait for the pasta on the lowest heat or just with the heat off. The other way around does not work. Not much else to find fault with, other than you may want a tiny bit of heat underneath when bringing this dish together. It's living dangerously for sure, but it speeds things up and some minor egg curdling can be rescued with some more pasta water.
You can tell as these 2 ladies are quite heavy and perhaps need to check blood pressure more often. Their taste could lead them to eat more oily and salty food. Typical Americans?
I tried Guanciale once. Worst piece of pork I ever ate, flavorwise. Bought it at an authentic Italian deli. Prepared Molly Bon Appetit's recipe. I'll settle for bacon or mushrooms.
I've made both traditional and modified carbonara. Simple and clean, guancale. Adding some depth, pancetta. Really good, top with a little rosemary and lemon zest to cut the richness.
She got it almost right. No olive oil. The guanciale fat is all that is needed. Also, I have to say, you can tell by the way she cooks the pasta that she’s not Italian.
No no no. You don't pour the guanciale on the pasta. Half of all the flavour gets lost. You put the pasta in the pan and the eggs and cheese in there too. Then you toss the pasta in the pan. Don't stir...
Nice try but in reality it was a dish invented at the end of World War II when American soldiers had bacon, which, by the way, is the original fat and not pancetta or Guanciale and eggs, which the Americans had. An interesting sidebar is that bacon is an acceptable ingredient and lends a smokiness to the dish, which is not unpleasant and which is used by many Italian/ Americans to this day.
