Spaghetti Carbonara-style Roman pasta

Ingredients

Pasta

• 400 g spaghetti

Sauce

• 4 large egg yolks + 1 whole egg
• 80 g pecorino romano, finely grated
• 50 g parmesan, finely grated
• 200 g pancetta (or guanciale), cubed
• Lots of cracked black pepper
• Salt for the pasta water

Method

1. Water. Boil a big pan of well-salted water (it should taste like the sea).
2. Pancetta. Fry pancetta in a dry pan over medium until crispy and the fat has rendered. Remove from heat.
3. Egg mix. Whisk yolks, whole egg, cheeses, and a lot of black pepper. Set aside.
4. Pasta. Cook spaghetti 1 minute less than the packet says. Reserve a cup of pasta water.
5. Combine. Off the heat. Add drained pasta to the pancetta pan. Pour in egg mix. Toss fast — the residual heat should thicken the sauce, not scramble the egg.
6. Loosen. Add splashes of pasta water until you have a glossy sauce that coats the pasta.
7. Serve. Immediately, with more pecorino and pepper.

Tips

• Egg yolks + pecorino. No cream. That’s the Roman rule.
• Reserve pasta water. The starch is what makes the sauce cling.
• Off the heat for the egg mix. Otherwise scramble and cry.