Tradition Kitchens collaborated with Alessandra, who taught us live from Rome! Alessandra was born in the San Francisco Bay Area and spent most of her childhood in Ascoli Piceno, Italy--a small town in the Marche region. Alessandra showed us how to cook authentic carbonara, a dish typical of her adopted city of Rome. Below is the instructional video, along with the full list of ingredients and directions.
Watch the recording of our class
Carbonara Recipe
(yields 2 servings)
Ingredients:
200g rigatoni or spaghetti (ideally molisana, Rummo or De Cecco brands)
Pecorino Romano cheese (approx 30g)
Parmigiano reggiano cheese (approx 20g)
3 eggs
120 g guanciale (if you can’t find guanciale, pancetta or bacon could work)
Kosher salt
Ground black pepper to taste
Directions:
Boil your pasta water and grate both types of cheese.
Remove the skin from the guanciale if it has any on it, then cut the guanciale into thin strips, then cubes.
Put the pan on medium heat, and cook the guanciale until crispy (do not add any oil, the guanciale has enough fat in it).
Separate 2 eggs, saving the yolks, and add to a bowl with 1 whole egg.
Add the grated cheeses and stir until combined. It should be a paste-like consistency.
Once your water is boiled, add about 1/2 tsp of kosher salt and the pasta into the water.
Return to the egg and cheese mixture, and add in black pepper to taste.
Once the pasta is cooked, take out about 1/3 cup of the pasta water in a cup or mug. This will be added to the sauce to make it smoother. Drain the rest of the water from the pot, leaving just the pasta.
Add the pasta into the pan with the cooked guanciale and mix on low heat for about 3 minutes, until the pasta is coated in the fat from the guanciale.
Add the pasta and guanciale into the egg and cheese mixture and stir quickly to make sure the egg doesn’t scramble.
Pour in some of the saved pasta water to make the sauce creamier. Add more or less depending on how creamy you would like the sauce to be.
Garnish with pepper or extra cheese, and enjoy!