Easy Carbonara Recipe | Good Appetite

With crispy chunks of pork, a peppery bite, and a velvety egg-infused cheese sauce, carbonara is just as good for dinner as it is at 4am after a long night. It’s one of Rome’s signature dishes, and just like cacio e pepe and other pasta recipes of this class, its simplicity requires the right technique and quality ingredients. Salted meat adds a salty depth to the dish, and while guanciale is the most traditional choice, diced pancetta or bacon also pair well. Egg yolks give carbonara sauce its delicious texture and golden color, so use farm-fresh eggs whenever possible. And when it comes to cheese and pasta, this is the time to spend a little more: buy a piece of Romano cheese or real Parmigiano Reggiano and a nice packet of spaghetti, bucatini or rigatoni.

A word on technique: To achieve the creamy sauce’s signature sheen, adding the ingredients at the right time and temperature is key to any carbonara recipe. Stir 1/4 cup of hot pasta water into the raw egg mixture and turn off the heat before adding to the pasta to combine everything into a glossy, emulsified sauce without overcooking the yolks. From there, mix everything quickly, adding more pasta cooking water to thin the sauce as needed.

For dinner, this pasta dish is served well with a plate of veggies, but when you’re in the clutches after hours, just grab a fork.