Classic Spaghetti Carbonara

Ingredients

• 350 g spaghetti
• 150 g pancetta or guanciale, cut into small cubes
• 4 egg yolks
• 1 whole egg
• 80 g Pecorino Romano, finely grated, plus extra to serve
• 40 g Parmesan, finely grated
• 1 tsp freshly cracked black pepper, plus more to serve
• 2 cloves garlic, lightly crushed, optional
• 1 tbsp olive oil

Method

1. Bring a large pan of water to a rolling boil and salt it generously — it should taste like the sea. This is your only chance to season the pasta itself. Drop in the spaghetti and cook until al dente, around 8–9 minutes. Just before draining, scoop out a big mugful of the starchy water — this is the backbone of your sauce.
2. While the pasta cooks, whisk the egg yolks, whole egg, Pecorino, Parmesan and a heavy crack of black pepper in a bowl until thick, pale and smooth. The cheese carries most of the salt here, so hold off seasoning the eggs further until the very end.
3. Tip the pancetta into a wide pan with the olive oil over medium heat. Render it slowly for 5–6 minutes, until the fat runs clear and the cubes are deeply golden and crisp at the edges — you want the rendered fat as much as the meat, so don't rush it.
4. Drop in the crushed garlic if using and cook for no more than 30 seconds, just until fragrant and pale gold. Don't let it darken — burnt garlic turns the whole dish bitter. Fish the cloves out and discard.
5. Take the pan off the heat completely and let it sit for a minute. This is the make-or-break moment: if the pan is too hot when the eggs hit, you'll have scrambled egg on spaghetti, not carbonara.
6. Drain the spaghetti and tip it straight into the pancetta pan. Toss for 30 seconds so every strand is slick with the rendered fat and picking up all the golden bits from the base.
7. Pour in the egg and cheese mixture and toss fast and continuously, loosening with splashes of the reserved pasta water a little at a time, until the sauce turns glossy, silky and clings to every strand — about a minute. If it looks claggy, more pasta water; if it looks loose, keep tossing and it will tighten. Taste now and adjust the pepper and salt — the Pecorino is salty, so you may need nothing more than another crack of pepper.
8. Twirl into deep nests on warm plates, shower with extra Pecorino, finish with plenty of freshly cracked black pepper and a thin drizzle of extra virgin olive oil over the top. Carbonara waits for no one — to the table immediately.