🍝 Bucatini carbonara
Carbonara is a Roman pasta of crisp guanciale, eggs, pecorino romano and black pepper, here made with thick, hollow bucatini. The hot pasta gently sets the egg and cheese into a silky, creamy coating — with no cream at all. It tastes rich, salty and peppery. It is eaten immediately, before the sauce thickens.
Diets
Allergens
Contains (in a typical recipe):
What it is made of
Recipe
Ingredients
- 400 g bucatini
- 150 g guanciale, cut into strips
- 4 egg yolks and 1 whole egg
- 60 g pecorino romano, finely grated
- 1 tsp black pepper, freshly cracked
- Salt
Method
- Render the guanciale in a dry pan until crisp; turn off the heat.
- Whisk the yolks, egg, pecorino and most of the pepper into a thick cream.
- Boil the bucatini in salted water until al dente; keep a cup of the water.
- Toss the drained pasta with the guanciale off the heat, then add the egg mixture.
- Stir quickly, adding pasta water a spoon at a time until silky; finish with pepper.
How to make it lighter
- Use 3 whole eggs instead of yolks and 1 whole egg to keep it creamy with less fat.
- Use 100 g guanciale for four and leave most of the rendered fat in the pan.
- Stick to 80 g of dry pasta per person and serve a salad first.
History
Carbonara is first documented in Rome shortly after the Second World War, and its exact origin is debated. One popular theory links it to American army rations of eggs and bacon; another to charcoal workers ('carbonai'). It has since become one of the best-known Roman pastas worldwide.
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Values are estimates per 100 g for a typical recipe; home and restaurant versions vary. Diets and allergens are worked out from the ingredients of a typical recipe — always check with whoever cooked the dish. Not medical advice. Nutrition data: Me Nutrition dish database v13. How we count →