Now this is our idea of comfort food. Creamy and rich, it’s the quintessential dish for a chilly evening. We like to splurge every once in a while and add a knob of butter to the cheesy egg sauce just to round it out. We’ve left that option up to you, however. Either way, we can’t think of a more classic or satisfying pasta dish.
| Level: | Easy |
| Total: | 20 min |
| Active: | 20 min |
| Yield: | 4 to 6 servings |
Ingredients
- Kosher salt
- 4 large eggs, plus 2 large yolks
- 1 cup freshly grated Parmesan, plus more for sprinkling
- 1/2 cup freshly grated Pecorino Romano
- 1 tablespoon coarsely ground black pepper
- 2 tablespoons unsalted butter, at room temperature (optional)
- 1 pound spaghetti
- One 12-ounce piece pancetta, cut into matchsticks
Instructions
- Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil over high heat.
- Whisk together the eggs, yolks, Parmesan, Pecorino, pepper and butter if using in a large bowl until well combined.
- Add the pasta and cook as the label directs. Reserve 1 cup cooking water, then drain the pasta.
- Meanwhile, cook the pancetta in a large skillet over medium heat, stirring occasionally, until crisp, about 8 minutes. Add the spaghetti and half the reserved pasta cooking water to the skillet and toss to combine.
- Add the egg mixture and toss to coat. Cook, tossing continuously to avoid scrambling the eggs, until the sauce is creamy, thinning it with the remaining pasta water if it becomes too thick (it should be saucy but not watery), about 1 minute.
- Divide the pasta among plates and sprinkle with more grated Parmesan.
Nutrition Facts
| Serving Size | 1 of 6 servings |
| Calories | 728 |
| Total Fat | 38 g |
| Saturated Fat | 16 g |
| Carbohydrates | 59 g |
| Dietary Fiber | 3 g |
| Sugar | 2 g |
| Protein | 34 g |
| Cholesterol | 200 mg |
| Sodium | 928 mg |
Reviews
I agree with Margaret – need more detail to avoid scrambling. Next time, I’ll remove it from any heat when I put in egg mixture. Tasted good anyway!
I cheaped out and used dried, not fresh cheese, and smoked ham, not pancetta. It still tasted great. I will make with fresh grated cheese and bacon or pancetta next time, though. It was quick and easy to make. I’ll be adding this to our quick dinner rotation
First time making carbonara and I didn’t scramble the eggs! Delicious pasta dish. Had to substitute bacon for pancetta. I had to use a little bit more pasta water than called for to make the sauce a little bit saucier . Delicious and easy. I’ve always wanted to make carbonara sense seeing it on TV and thought it was really fancy and would be expensive. It wasn’t all that expensive to make and was easy and delicious.
Whipped this one up tonight after the ‘Hey babe, you know what sounds good tonight? Carbonara!’ So we made a point of grabbing ingredients during our grocery trip. 5 stars for ease and taste.
This is a very simple and satisfying dish. I agree with Mary D, bowl does a better job. A little too much pepper for me, but everyone else loved it.
Bowl a better method I like blending all the eggs cheese pepper butter into one
Recipe should have better instructions on preventing the eggs from scrambling.
Way too much pepper. Practically inedible
Did I do something wrong? The parmesan cheese flavour was overwhelmingly strong 🙁
Pretty sure its supposed to be 1 TEASPOON of pepper not TABLESPOON lol