Spaghetti Carbonara

What

• spaghetti or linguine, bronze die cut, 100% durum, around 500g for 3-4 people
• guanciale > pancetta > kolozsvári szalonna > any kind of bacon
• 2-3 eggs
• Italian hard cheese (grana padano, parmigiano)
• freshly ground black pepper

A semi-large saute pan-like something is also required. Without a better option, a wok does the job.

How

1. Dice the bacon, and cook it in the wok until almost crispy. Start on olive oil. This will be the longest task
2. Boil lightly salted water in a different pot. The cheese and bacon will be salty enough
3. In the meantime, grate the cheese. Crack the eggs into a small bowl, together with the cheese and pepper. Mix it together with a fork
4. Once the fat is rendered, turn off the heat
5. Once the pasta is al dente, take it out with a fork into the wok. Start stirring like crazy, to make an emulsion with the fat. Additional pasta water might be required
6. Add the egg mixture, and stir even more. After some time, it should come together into a homogeneous sauce. If too runny, put it back on stove with vigorous agitation. If ending up with scrambled eggs, don’t tell anyone, will still taste okay. If it’s too thick, add pasta water

Unless one is willing to get into precise measurements, it’s impossible to get the viscosity of the sauce right. Prepare to fuck up.

Refs

Probably Kenji, but I can’t recall.

Indeed.