Let's make carbonara together!
Five ingredients, no shortcuts. Just the right guanciale.
Do it like a roman
Carbonara is one of Rome’s best-loved dishes, and one of the most copied. The real recipe needs just five ingredients: pasta, guanciale, eggs, Pecorino Romano and black pepper. No cream, no garlic, no onion. With so few ingredients, every one counts. And it all starts with the guanciale…
San Michele Guanciale
Guanciale is cured pork cheek, and it’s what makes carbonara taste like… carbonara. Ours comes in two formats: already sliced into thin petals, straight from the pack to the pan, or vacuum-packed in a whole piece, to cut the way you like. Either way, in a few minutes it turns crisp, while its fat melts and gives the whole dish its flavour.
Guanciale in petals
Vacuum-packed whole piece
Video recipe
Coming soon
The recipe
Serves
4 
Prep
10 min
Cook
15 min
Ingredients
- 400 g (14 oz) spaghetti, or rigatoni / mezze maniche
- 200 g San Michele Guanciale in petals or vacuum-packed
- 100 g (3.5 oz) Pecorino Romano PDO, finely grated
- 5 large egg yolks (or 4 yolks and 1 whole egg, for a more stable cream)
- Black peppercorns, freshly crushed
Method
1. The guanciale
Using petals? They’re ready as they are. Using the vacuum-packed piece? Trim off the rind and cut it into strips about 1 cm (½ in) thick. Place the guanciale in a cold pan, with no oil or butter. Turn the heat to medium-low and let the fat melt slowly. The petals are thin, so they only need a few minutes: cook until the lean part is crisp and the fat turns translucent. Lift the guanciale out and set it aside, but keep the melted fat in the pan.
2. The cream
Cook the pasta in boiling water with just a little salt, since guanciale and pecorino are already savoury. Meanwhile, in a large bowl, whisk the yolks, the Pecorino and plenty of freshly crushed pepper into a thick paste. Add one or two spoonfuls of the melted guanciale fat and a splash of pasta water, and keep stirring until smooth.
3. Mantecatura (where the creaminess happens!)
Drain the pasta very al dente, keeping a ladle of cooking water aside. Turn off the heat and toss the pasta in the pan with the guanciale fat for a few seconds, so it picks up the flavour. Then move the pan away from the hob.
Golden rule
If the pan is too hot, the eggs will scramble. Pour in the egg cream and stir quickly, adding a little pasta water to bring it together. The heat of the pasta is all it takes to turn the eggs into a smooth, silky cream.
4. Serve
Stir in the crispy guanciale, keeping a little aside for the top. Plate straight away and finish with more Pecorino and a twist of black pepper.
The Italian rules
Use only guanciale,
not pancetta or bacon.
Never use cream.
The creaminess comes only from egg, cheese and the starch in the pasta water.
Too runny?
Set the bowl over the pot of hot pasta water and keep stirring until the cream thickens.