A good carbonara is meant to be perfectly savoury and super creamy without containing any cream. That’s why achieving that perfect consistency using just eggs can seem quite tricky.
Luckily, food blogger Alessandra Ciuffo shared the key to the “best” carbonara pasta with that smooth, creamy result everyone’s after. She revealed: “The key to my recipe is using the egg white, which other chefs often discard when making this dish. The yolks are combined with freshly grated pecorino cheese and a touch of pork fat, and the whites are whipped to form soft peaks. When tossing the pasta with the sauce, I start with the egg yolk combination and finish it by gently folding in the airy egg whites to add an extra touch of creaminess.”
This recipe yields four servings and can be prepared in just five minutes, with a further five minutes on the stove.
How to make carbonara more creamy
Ingredients
115g guanciale (if you can’t find traditional guanciale, pancetta or bacon work, too)
One cup freshly grated Pecorino Romano cheese
Four eggs, yolks and white seperated
450g buccatini, spaghetti or rigatoni
Fresh cracked pepper, to taste
Method
Cut the guanciale into small, bite-sized chunks. Place a frying pan over a medium flame, then add the guanciale and cook gently, allowing the fat to melt and the meat to become golden and crisp. Once done, lift the pieces out using a slotted spoon and set them aside on a plate lined with kitchen paper to drain.
In two separate bowls, divide the eggs into whites and yolks. To the yolks, stir in the finely grated Pecorino Romano cheese until the mixture becomes thick and forms a paste-like consistency. Add roughly one teaspoon of the rendered guanciale fat and mix again.
Whisk the egg whites by hand or with an electric mixer until soft peaks form and there is no visible liquid remaining at the base of the bowl. This should take between one and three minutes.
Bring a large saucepan of water to the boil. Season it with salt, bearing in mind the saltiness of the guanciale and cheese. Add the pasta and cook it for two minutes less than the package suggests for al dente.
Carefully discard most of the fat from the frying pan, leaving behind roughly one tablespoon. Grind in some fresh black pepper and warm it through for a minute to release its flavour. Add the slightly undercooked pasta to the pan and toss thoroughly so it’s evenly coated in the fat and pepper. Turn off the heat.
Stir a ladleful of the starchy pasta water into the egg yolk and cheese mixture, combining it until smooth. Pour this into the pan with the pasta and mix energetically to create a silky emulsion that coats everything. Add extra pasta water gradually if needed to maintain a sauce-like texture.
Gently incorporate the whipped egg whites into the pasta, folding them through carefully until just mixed.
Serve immediately, finishing each portion with a handful of the crispy guanciale and a sprinkling of Pecorino Romano and freshly ground black pepper to taste.