This pasta carbonara recipe is my Godmother’s one. I learned it watching her prepare it so many times when, freshly married, we happened to stay for dinner at their house.
Coming from Brazil and marrying an Italian man from a small village in Sardinia made of me “the foreingner”, the one everybody felt like teaching how to cook (it is not always a good sensation), and Maria was not an exception, even if she did it better being closer to my age.
Maria prepares this recipe naturally and renders it simple for anyone to do the same. There are a couple of secrets to pay attention to, and they guarantee an exquisite dish that will delight your guests. The secrets are:
1) put the onion into the pan and cover them with water. Turn on the gas on low and let the water evaporates. Only then add the oil. This trick will make the onion flavour more delicate:
2) be tempestive pouring the eggs mixture onto the hot pasta so that the pasta heat will cook the eggs.
The pasta alla carbonara is really a quick pasta recipe. You can invite friends and cook it immediately, as you prepare the dressing while the pasta cooks. It is a traditional pasta here in Italy, one that can be prepared anytime – even when returning home late after a night in disco.
- 400 g Italian pasta
- 1 medium minced onion
- 2 minced garlic cloves
- 100 g of pancetta cut in small cubes
- 4 tablespoons of extra virgin olive oil
- 1 tablespoon of minced parsley
- ½ cup of grated Parmesan cheese
- 5 eggs (3 whole eggs and 2 yolks)
- fresh grounded pepper
- salt
- Put the sliced onion with 4 or 5 tablespoons of water into a frying pan. Let it cook with water before adding the oil. This will make them sweeter and give a better end result.
- In a bowl, beat the 3 whole eggs plus the 2 yolks with the grated Parmesan cheese and reserve
- When the water finishes, add the extra virgin olive oil. Let it cook for a while and then add the bacon cubes. Let them color, and then add the minced garlic and mix for a while (being careful to not color the garlic).
- Add parsley, salt, freshly grounded pepper and turn off the gas.
- At this point, the pasta may be done (pay attention to cooking time that may be written on the pasta package), strain it through a colander and put it into a big bowl, adding quickly the eggs mixture and the oil with bacon. Mix it all quickly using the heat of the oil and pasta to cook the eggs. If you like it, add some minced parsley and serve immediately.
- Buon appetito 🙂
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