Pasta Queen's Carbonara

Authentic Italian Carbonara by the one, the only, the Pasta Queen 👑 I've never had as deep of a connection to my Italian ancestry as I'd like since my grandpa left Calabria for Ellis Island when he was just 8 years old. Thank you Pasta Queen for reconnecting me to my roots and the Italian cook in me! You can find this recipe on her Youtube channel and you can find my recipe notes for a 2 person serving below, enjoy! 

This recipe all comes down to timing, timing, timing! And no bacon 🥓🚫 or pre-grated cheese. Notes below on when in the cooking process I recommend cooking the spaghetti. 
Ingredients:

• 200 g of spaghetti 

• 3 eggs (1 egg for each person + 1 egg for the pot)

• 1/2 cup of chopped Guanciale (recommended) or Pancetta 

• 1 cup of pecorino Romano 

• 1/2 cup of pasta water 

• 1/2 Tbsp of salt

Instructions:

1. Chop up the Guanciale or Pancetta and cook on medium heat until it turns browned and cooked. No oil necessary, and keep a close eye.
2. Meanwhile, grate your Pecorino Romano on the smallest cheese grater hole (tiniest dot size hole). It should collect into a fluffy cloud.
3. Crack 3 eggs into a bowl and whisk. Add in the Pecorino Romano, the cooked Guanciale and the Guanciale fat that collected in the pan where you cooked it. Mix well with a fork or whisk until it becomes the consistency of a paste. 
4. Now timing is most important with this dish. At this point, you can begin cooking the spaghetti noodles in a pot of water (completely covers the noodles) with about a half tablespoon of salt. Make sure you have your Guanciale cooked, cheese grated and eggs whisked into a mixture by now. The spaghetti needs to be piping hot when you combine it with the egg mixture and pasta water. This will cook the egg properly. 
5. Once your spaghetti is cooked, save 1/2 cup of pasta water and drain. Then return about a quarter of the spaghetti to the pan (off-heat) where you cooked the Guanciale. Pour about a quarter of your egg mixture and combine it well. Slowly add another quarter of spaghetti and egg mixture and mix well again. Repeat until all the spaghetti and egg mixture have been incorporated. Serve and raise a toast the Pasta Queen!