by Carol Larsson

Created on: August 05, 2009   Last Updated: December 10, 2009

Spaghetti alla carbonara is a Roman favorite and probably the quickest and easiest pasta dish you could ever make. If you do not have spaghetti you could use another long pasta shape such as linguine, fettuccine etc.
There really are not many ingredients but they combine to make a delicious meal.

Serves 4
1lb / 450g spaghetti
4oz / 100g bacon or pancetta
1 or 2 large tablespoons of Olive Oil

4 Egg yolks *(read the note below)
1 teaspoon of cream or creme fraiche or even milk or use none of them at all and *instead replace one of the egg yolks for a whole egg. So in total you will have 3 egg yolks and 1 whole egg.
2oz / 50g of finely grated parmesan or pecorino romano or a mixture of both

Chop the bacon or pancetta into thin strips or small cubes.

Cook the spaghetti. Boil a large pan of water add the spaghetti all at the same time, just stir it once with a large fork so it separates and cook it until it is al dente. Not too soft not too hard. Drain and return to the pan you cooked it in.
While the spaghetti is cooking, prepare the rest of the ingredients. Put the olive oil in a pan add the chopped bacon or pancetta and cook until the fat is released from the bacon and it cooked but not brown. In a small bowl beat the egg yolks and either the whole egg or the cream depending on what you are using. Add half the finely grated cheese either parmesan or pecorino to the beaten eggs. and beat lightly again.

As soon as the spaghetti is cooked and returned to its pan, add the bacon and olive oil and rapidly stir. Immediately add the egg and cheese mixture. The eggs will cook as soon as they are mixed into the hot spaghetti.

Serve at once on hot plates with the rest of the cheese and freshly ground black pepper.

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