Roman-style carbonara, no cream

Name: Roman-style carbonara, no cream
Total time: 25 min
Yield: 2 servings
Cuisine: Italy
Ingredients: 200 g spaghetti; 100 g guanciale (cured pork cheek); 3 eggs, 2 whole and 1 yolk only; 50 g pecorino romano cheese, finely grated; Parmesan also works, with a milder flavor; 1 tsp black pepper, freshly ground; salt, for the pasta water; 2 l water, for cooking the pasta

Spaghetti with cured pork, eggs, cheese and black pepper: the creaminess comes from the egg and the pasta water, never from cream.

Time: 25 min
Difficulty: Easy
Per serving: R$12.90
Servings: 2 servings

Dish photo

Ingredients

for 2 servings

200 gspaghetti
100 gguanciale (cured pork cheek)
BRAZILIAN SWAP
No guanciale?
100 g of diced bacon from pork belly, preferably lightly smoked, or pancetta; fry over low heat until golden without burning
Butcher or deli counter of any supermarket; guanciale only in specialty stores
Changes the flavor a little
3eggs2 whole and 1 yolk only
50 gpecorino romano cheesefinely grated; Parmesan also works, with a milder flavor
1 tspblack pepperfreshly ground
saltfor the pasta water
2 lwaterfor cooking the pasta

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Pocket Chef

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The Pocket Chef swaps what is missing and rewrites only the steps that change.

Carbonara in Rome has five ingredients and no cream. The creamy sauce is born from eggs, cheese and a little pasta water, mixed off the heat. The trick is the order and the temperature, not the ingredients.

Method

1
- Bring the 2 liters of water to a boil with salt.
- Cut the guanciale (or bacon) into 1 cm strips and put it in a cold skillet over low heat for about 8 minutes, until it renders its fat and turns golden.
- Turn off the heat.
In a bowl, whisk the 2 whole eggs and the yolk with the grated cheese and plenty of pepper, until it becomes a thick cream.
3
- Cook the spaghetti 1 minute less than the package says.
- Save one cup (240 ml) of the pasta water and drain the pasta.
Move the spaghetti to the skillet with the pork fat, with the heat still off, and toss.
5
- Pour in the egg cream and stir quickly, adding the saved water little by little (2 to 3 tablespoons) until the sauce is glossy and creamy.
- The heat of the pasta cooks the egg without turning it into an omelet.
Serve right away, with more cheese and pepper on top.

Tips

If the egg scrambles, the skillet was too hot: wait for it to cool a little before mixing. Do not add salt to the egg mixture, because the cheese and the pork are already quite salty. Carbonara does not wait: take the plates to the table before you drain the pasta.

Italy · per serving

Nutrients per serving

Calories

578 kcal

Protein

28 g

20% of kcal

Carbohydrate

81 g

57% of kcal

Fat

15 g

23% of kcal · fiber 3 g

Where the calories come from

protein20%
carbohydrate57%
fat23%

Pick a target per meal to compare the recipe. They are starting points, not individual advice.

By food

Nutrients of each food, per serving
Food	Qty.	kcal	Prot.	Share of calories
spaghetti	100 g	371	10 g	64%
eggs	75 g	108	9.8 g	19%
pecorino romano cheese	25 g	97	8 g	17%
black pepper	1.2 g	3	0.1 g	1%
water	1,000 g	0	0 g	0%

Calculated with 5 of 6 ingredients. No data for: guanciale (cured pork cheek).

Source: TACO (Unicamp), USDA FoodData Central, and editorial estimate. Approximate values. Not medical or nutritional advice.

Roman-style carbonara, no cream

Ingredients

Adapt it to what you have

Method

Tips

Nutrients per serving

By food

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