This spaghetti carbonara recipe is a classic Italian dish which makes for a brilliant mid-week dinner. It’s quick and easy to make with egg, Parmesan and plenty of pancetta.
Spaghetti carbonara was first created in Rome, Italy. This recipe will help you bring some quintessential Italian flavours into your home. Infused with salty pancetta, plenty of Parmesan and a clove of garlic, it’s a perfect comfort food dish. This pasta dish uses one egg but two egg yolks to make it richer in flavour and texture.
This traditional carbonara recipe is a real favourite. Follow our step-by-step video guide for delicious pasta every time.
If you want to give this pasta a twist add a handful of chestnut mushrooms to make a mushroom carbonara. Want to get more of your 5-a-day in? You could also add spinach and tenderstem broccoli to the pasta too.
This recipe serves two people and will take around 15-20 mins to prepare and cook. Try doubling the recipe to feed more people and make a cheap mid-week meal for the whole family.
Leftovers can be stored in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 2 days. Make sure you reheat thoroughly before serving.
Ingredients
- 175g spaghetti or linguine
- 65g diced pancetta, or smoked streaky bacon, snipped
- 1 tsp olive oil
- 1 garlic clove, crushed
- 1 egg, plus 2 yolks
- 25g Parmesan, grated
Method
Boil the pasta in a large pan of boiling salted water.
Add oil to a frying pan and fry pancetta for a few minutes until golden and crisp. Add garlic, fry for 1 minute, then turn off the heat.
Lightly whisk egg and yolks with most of the Parmesan and some salt and pepper (reserve a little to garnish).
Drain pasta, reserving a little of the cooking water.
Add eggs and 1 tbsp cooking water to the pasta, then mix until pasta is coated and creamy. Stir in the pancetta and garlic then serve, topped with the remaining Parmesan.
Top tip for making Spaghetti carbonara
If you don't have pancetta in the fridge or can't seem to find it in the supermarket, use bacon instead. It works just as good and is cheaper too!
If you don't have any pancetta in the fridge, you could always use bacon instead. Slice off the fat first and fry it on low heat in the pan you're going to cook in until it's crispy to get all the smoky bacon flavour out of it. If you keep the crispy bits to the side you can always sprinkle them on top after for a real treat!
