Spaghetti Alla Carbonara

Incredible! As soon as I published the recipe of the 'Amatriciana', millions of readers asked me to post another one of my favorites! Here is the one for 'Spaghetti Alla Carbonara'!

Ingredients:

• 1 pound dry spaghetti (Barilla or De Cecco)
• 2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
• 4 ounces pancetta or slab bacon sliced into small strips
• 2 large eggs
• 1 cup freshly grated Pecorino Romano, plus more for serving
• Freshly ground black pepper
• 
  
• Directions:

Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil, add the pasta and cook for 8 to 10 minutes or until tender yet firm (as they say in Italian "al dente.") Drain the pasta well, reserving 1/2 cup of the starchy cooking water to use in the sauce if you wish.

Meanwhile, heat the olive oil in a deep skillet over medium flame. Add the pancetta and saute for about 3 minutes, until the bacon is crisp and the fat is rendered.  

Add the hot, drained spaghetti to the pan and toss for 2 minutes to coat the strands in the bacon fat. Beat the eggs and Parmesan together in a mixing bowl, stirring well to prevent lumps. Remove the pan from the heat and pour the egg/cheese mixture into the pasta, whisking quickly until the eggs thicken, but do not scramble (this is done off the heat to ensure this does not happen.) Thin out the sauce with a bit of the reserved pasta water if necessary, until it reaches the desired consistency. Season the carbonara with freshly ground black pepper and taste for salt. Mound the spaghetti carbonara into warm serving bowls and pass more cheese around the table. 

Buon Appetito and.... while cooking, don't answer the phone!