Welcome to STYLE Canada’s series In the Kitchen with Cassandra Wardrope. In this series, we’ll feature weekly recipes of some of the most delicious meals you have yet to try! If you’re as much as a foodie as we are, we know In the Kitchen will become your new favourite series for tasty, easy recipes you can simply create at home. Check out more of Cassandra’s recipes by following her journey @tomato__tomatoe.
Carbonara
Photo via Cassandra Wardrope
Carbonara is a classic Roman pasta dish. I fell in love with this pasta when I tried it in Rome. It uses a few ingredients, but I would like to highlight some important things to note when making this pasta at home. Be sure to use high quality pecorino Romano cheese, pasture raised eggs and reserve enough pasta water to ensure that you have a creamy sauce. If you follow these tips you will have an amazing and authentic tasting carbonara.
Ingredients
1 box of spaghetti
7 oz of guanciale
3 eggs yolks and 1 whole egg
1 cup Pecorino Romano cheese freshly grated (don’t use the pre-grated cheese from the store, it won’t be as fresh). Plus extra for serving
1 tsp freshly cracked black pepper
1 cup of reserved pasta water
2 tbsp guanciale fat (reserve this from the pan after cooking your guanciale)
Photo via Cassandra Wardrope
Directions
- Cut your guanciale into long strips. Heat a large skillet to medium and add your guanciale. Cook this until all the fat renders and the pieces become crispy. Drain the guanciale on a paper towel and set aside. Reserve some of the fat from the pan (this will be needed for your sauce). Wipe out the rest of the fat with a paper towel.
- Bring a large pot of water to a boil and add salt (make sure it’s salty like the sea). Add in your pasta and cook for two minutes less than the package says.
Photo via Cassandra Wardrope
- While the pasta is cooking, prepare your sauce. In a medium bowl, add the egg yolks, one whole egg and cheese. Whisk this together. Add a few drops of the guanciale oil slowly to the bowl as you whisk (be sure to add this slowly so that you don’t cook your eggs). Add the remaining oil (2 tbsp in total). As the pasta is cooking, remove 1 cup of the pasta water. Slowly add a few tbsp of the pasta water to the sauce (adding a small amount at a time will ensure that the eggs don’t cook). Add about ¼ cup of pasta water to the bowl.
- Heat your large skillet that was used to the cook the guanciale in. Heat the skillet to low. Add in your fresh pepper and let this toast for a few minutes. Add the cooked pasta and the sauce. Stir the pasta until each noodle is coated in the sauce, you may need to add more pasta water. You want the sauce to become creamy and not too thick. Once the sauce is at the desired consistency, turn off the heat and serve. Top with some of the guanciale, an extra sprinkle of cheese and fresh parsley.
