Spaghetti Carbonara

Is there anything more comforting than a bowl of Spaghetti Carbonara; pasta with cheese and bacon, what’s not to like? This dish is an instant pick me up - it only takes 10 minutes to make, simple, tasty and delicious. This recipe traditionally uses spaghetti, guanciale and Pecorino Romano. I like to keep things straightforward for my recipes so have given you alternatives too.

Spaghetti Carbonara

• Prep time: 10 minutes

Servings: 2 people

Ingredients:

• 200g Spaghetti - I used linguine for this recipe, so mix it up with whatever is in the cupboard

• 1 large free range egg, 1 egg yolk

• 20g Pecorino

• 20g Parmesan, you could just use 40g of one cheese but I like the combination

• 75g diced pancetta - Guanciale is traditional so if you can get hold of it, go for it

• Salt and pepper

Instructions:

1. Bring a pan of water to the boil and cook the spaghetti until al dente, whilst you continue with the rest of the steps.

2. Beat the egg and whisk in the cheese, season with a pinch of salt and plenty of pepper

3. Cook the pancetta in a pan and keep all the lovely juices

4. Remove the pancetta pan from the heat and add the spaghetti with a splash of pasta water and combine it all together

5. The hardest part: adding the sauce! Removing the pancetta pan from the heat is really important so you don’t scramble the egg. Add the egg mixture and stir quickly to combine and make a silky sauce, add another splash of pasta water if it’s not smooth enough.

6. Plate up and serve with grated parmesan or pecorino.

Spaghetti carbonara

Top Tip: I find adding a splash of pasta water to the egg mixture just before adding to the pan helps prevent the egg scrambling, but you must add it quickly to the pasta.

Did you think carbonara should have cream? According to the heroes of Italian cooking (the late Antonio Carluccio for one) it’s a big no! The egg, cheese and pasta water make the creamy sauce for you.