Swooning Over Sure Fire Spaghetti Alla Carbonara
Plus: peek inside an Italian's suitcase and edible souvenirs to bring home from Italy
Ciao friends,
This week, I bring you a recipe that’s everything you love about authentic Italian pasta: simple ingredients, less than 30 minutes prep, and Italian controversy! We’re packing for our big trip to the US today and some of the ingredients even made their way into our suitcases. Take a gander.
Some of the best Made in Italy souvenirs are edible. I always recommend that my visiting friends stop at the mercato or any supermarket during their stay. Head to the deli counter. Ask for hard cheese, pancetta, guanciale, etc. ‘sottovuoto’ which means vacuum packed. At Esselunga, my macellaio guarantees my parmiggiano reggiano and pecorino sardo fiore to last for 10 days out of the refrigerator “as long as you don’t leave it out on the balcony in the sun!” ha ha ha Grazie. More thoughts on artisanal, edible Italian souvenirs here.
Tomorrow I’m bringing my son to see his American nonna for the first time in 2 years. It’s long anticipated and we are over the moon. But first - a couple long flights as there’s nothing direct from Milan to Chicago. We don’t mind! It gives me time to write upcoming posts about my moka pot fandom, the historical bars of Milano, and results of surveying my Italian mom friends about Pasta in Bianco, the ultimate Italian kids comfort food! And my son will have time to start his plethora of summer homework. But let’s get back to today and Carbonara alla Giorgio!
My boyfriend, Giorgio, and I had a philosophical discussion about pasta this week while he blew out my hair before work. Giorgio is a hairdresser, salon owner, finisher of more than 100 triathlons, creative wielder of Italian profanity, and the pane buono (aka a very good-hearted person). Under the wooden beams and carved ceiling of his salon, I asked him how he felt about Spaghetti Carbonara. He responded with this ode:
“Quando si dice ‘pasta Italiana’, si pensa subito alla ammatriciana o alla carbonara. Tutte le altre sono seconde.”
“When one thinks of ‘Italian pasta‘, one thinks immediately of amatriciana or carbonara. All the others come in second place.” - Giorgio
Luckily the hairdryer was still going hot and loud as his comments tossed me down into a rabbit hole of pasta musings. Born and raised in Northern Italy, Giorgio’s essential pastas are…Roman?!
Furthermore, we have never even eaten these pastas together! Has Giorgio been cheating on me, eating his favorite pastas alone…or with a Roman amore? Ok, so I wasn’t really worried about that, but this got me thinking, what are my essential pastas? So here goes my list:
sugo
ragù
pesto Genovese
butter and parmigiano reggiano
cime di rapa or broccoli and anchovies
aglio e olio (garlic and extra virgin olive oil
Note: Rotation depends on the seasons.
For those who know regional pastas, what influences do you see? Cover my responses below with your hand if you want to play the game and think for a minute!
Here goes:
sugo - Southern Italy - I learned this recipe from my ex-MIL who has roots in Pulgia, so I make it with only garlic or onion and no other vegetables
ragù - apparently my recipe for ragu or meat sauce is very Northern Italian, influenced by a mix of family and friends, and starting with a base of soffritto: chopped onion, carrots and celery.
pesto Genovese - from the coastal region of Liguria
butter and parmigiano reggiano (in bianco) - Northern Italy - Pasta in bianco means something different depending on where you come from. I make every Italian kid’s comfort food with butter, whereas southern Italians may not ever even have butter in their house and use extra virgin olive oil.
cime di rapa (turnip greens) with anchovies - hello Puglia! I believe my belly is genetically Pugliese as this is my death row pasta.
aglio e olio (garlic and extra virgin olive oil) - The genius of all Italian pantry pastas. I make this all the time, in its simple purity, and with variations of anchovies, olives, capers and pepperoncino. This pasta and it’s puttanesca variations are from the food mecca of Naples.
In review, I am an sort of essential pasta mutt, very much an immigrant, but as with everyone here, my essential pastas are very influenced by my location, family, and friends - and the foods we eat and cook together.
The must-have pasta list seems to be on everyone’s mind lately as the New York Times recently published 25 Essential Pastas to Eat in Italy. Elizabeth Minchilli was one of the fabulous list of contributors; she subsequently ponders in her latest newsletter, this list of essential pastas are “essential to who?”
“At the end of the day, you like what you like. I truly think that the best lists are the ones that are extremely personal and subjective.” - E.M.
I couldn’t agree more.
Back to our dreamy, creamy recipe at hand: Carbonara! Carbonara is so beloved in Italy that it even has it’s own day, April 6th. Max Mariola, Roman born and bred chef is my go-to for everything Roman pasta. His video tutorials are full of energy, muscley arms, and big smiles. Max always points to the quality of the ingredients as quality is everything in Italian cooking. Intense debates storm on every part of this pasta’s simple ingredient list: full egg or only yolk? guanciale or pancetta? is panna (cream) allowed? or is it a crime against the pasta gods? Regarding the concreteness of the Carbonara recipe and debates, Max smooths the roiling pasta waters:
"Some people just add the yolks, others the whole egg. Some mix it all on the heat, some off the heat," Mariola stated. "Every household has their own way." - M.M.
Max also opines that despite the controversy of using guanciale (pig’s cheek) vs. pancetta (pork belly), it’s most important to use what’s of good quality. If you have good quality pancetta where you are - use it!
For Giorgio, pasta alla carbonara is a pantry pasta and a dinner savior. “When you find yourself at home with friends and nothing to eat, you surely have 2 eggs and some guanciale or pancetta in the fridge; you can make pasta alla carbonara.”
Sp let’s transport to my Como kitchen with the cobblestone piazza and gelsomino blooms outside. Giorgio is making creamy spaghetti alla carbonara for us, the sizzles and scent of sauteeing crispy guanciale wafts through the breeze of the open balcony doors… ready?
pst! Scroll to the very bottom to download recipe pdf!
Spaghetti Carbonara
Spaghetti alla Carbonara
FOR 4 PEOPLE
The ingredients
60 g guanciale, skin removed, sliced into strips approx 2cm long and thin (see photo above; even a little longer is fine)
4 eggs
60 g pecorino romano, finely grated
360-400 g spaghetti
up to 10 soup spoons of pasta cooking water, reserved
freshly ground pepper, to taste
The method
1) Fill a big tall pot with water and salt and set on high heat stove burner. Taste the water to make sure it’s salty like the sea (as and add more salt if needed.
2) Heat saucepan/skillet on medium heat. Add guanciale and only guanciale. Don’t walk away! Stay close, stirring to ensure the guanciale melts its fat into flavorful oil and becomes crispy but not burnt and hard. Pull it off the heat before it turns dark brown and while you see it still has some tenderness.
3) Drain the fat from the pan, leaving just a thin layer coating the bottom of the skillet, setting the crispy guanciale off the side in a bowl
4) When the water boils, add the pasta and cook to the package time (al dente), stirring occasionally.
5) While the pasta cooks:
crack the eggs into a bowl and whisk
grate the pecorino and whisk it into the eggs until smooth
add some pasta water to the guanciale oil in the skillet and whisk until combined
6) Strain the spaghetti and immediately add pasta to the still warm skillet and stir in the cheese and egg mixture. The warm pan will ensure the eggs cook but remain silky, not scrambled.
7) Spoon or tong your spaghetti into pasta bowls and top with the reserved crispy guanciale and freshly ground pepper to taste.
Buon appetito!
Notes:
Salt: It’s important not to skimp. This salt is flavoring both your pasta and also your sauce in the form of pasta water.
Pasta: you could really use any pasta, but spaghetti is the traditional choice for good reason; the ratio of pasta to sauce balances nicely
Guanciale: Giorgio’s version is quite light on guanciale, you could double it if you like more crispy meat crunchies
Is your family’s carbonara recipe different from Giorgio’s? Let me know in the comments!
Buon appetito!
x Lolly
(1) BBC: A Roman celebrity chef's guide to the best carbonara in his hometown, 5 April 2024, By Andrea Carlo
Team Amatriciana here 🙋♀️I have a drawer in my refrigerator here in Venice dedicated to vacuum packed chunks of guanciale from the Lazio & wedges of pecorino Romano
I’m also a big fan of Max Mariola. No matter what he’s making his videos always make me smile.
Also, pecorino sardo makes sense to bring along since it’s hard to find in the States, but parmigiano-reggiano…?